JEWISH  LITERATURE 


CHAPTERS 


ON 


JEWISH  LITERATURE 


ISRAEL  ABRAHAMS,  M.  A. 

Author  of  "Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  <Jlges" 


PHILADELPHIA 

The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America 

1899 


Copyright,  iSqq,  by 
The  Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America 


Z2>i  JSorb  (gafttmorc  (prceo 

THE  ERIEDENWALI)  COMPANY 

BALTIMORE,   MD.,  U.  S.  A. 


PS 
5/AO 


PREFACE 

These      twenty-five     short     chapters     on 
Jewish    Literature    open    with    the   fall    of 
\    Jerusalem  in  the  year  70  of  the  current  era, 
and  end  with  the  death  of  Moses  Mendels- 
sohn  in    1786.     Thus  the   period   covered 
extends    over    more    than    seventeen    cen- 
turies.    Yet,  long  as  this  period  is,  it  is  too 
brief.     To  do  justice  to  the  literature   of 
Judaism  even  in  outline,  it  is  clearly  neces- 
'j  sary  to  include  the  Bible,  the  Apocrypha, 
*  and  the  writings  of  Alexandrian  Jews,  such 
iu  as  Philo.     Only  by  such  an  inclusion  can 

CD 

•  the  genius  of  the  Hebrew  people  be  traced 
3  from   its   early   manifestations   through   its 
inspired    prime    to    its   brilliant    after-glow 
in  the  centuries  with  which  this  little  vol- 
ume deals. 

One  special   reason   has  induced   me  to 
limit    this    book    to    the    scope    indicated 


:$  111*1:1 


6  PREFA  CE 

above.  The  Bible  has  been  treated  in  Eng- 
land and  America  in  a  variety  of  excellent 
text-books  written  by  and  for  Jews  and 
Jewesses.  It  seemed  to  me  very  doubtful 
whether  the  time  is,  or  ever  will  be,  ripe 
for  dealing  with  the  Scriptures  from  the 
purely  literary  stand-point  in  teaching 
young  students.  But  this  is  the  stand- 
point of  this  volume.  Thus  I  have  re- 
frained from  including  the  Bible,  because, 
on  the  one  hand,  I  felt  that  I  could  not  deal 
with  it  as  I  have  tried  to  deal  with  the  rest 
of  Hebrew  literature,  and  because,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  was  no  necessity  for  me 
to  attempt  to  add  to  the  books  already  in 
use.  The  sections  to  which  I  have  re- 
stricted myself  are  only  rarely  taught  to 
young  students  in  a  consecutive  manner, 
except  in  so  far  as  they  fall  within  the 
range  of  lessons  on  Jewish  History.  It 
was  strongly  urged  on  me  by  a  friend  of 
great  experience  and  knowledge,  that  a 
small  text-book  on  later  Jewish  Literature 


PREFA  CE  7 

was  likely  to  be  found  useful  both  for  home 
and  school  use.  Such  a  book  might  en- 
courage the  elementary  study  of  Jewish 
literature  in  a  wider  circle  than  has  hitherto 
been  reached.  Hence  this  book  has  been 
compiled  with  the  definite  aim  of  providing 
an  elementary  manual.  It  will  be  seen  that 
both  in  the  inclusions  and  exclusions  the 
author  has  followed  a  line  of  his  own,  but 
he  lays  no  claim  to  originality.  The  book 
is  simply  designed  as  a  manual  for  those 
who  may  wish  to  master  some  of  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  of  the  subject,  without 
burdening  themselves  with  too  many  de- 
tails and  dates. 

This  consideration  has  in  part  deter- 
mined also  the  method  of  the  book.  In 
presenting  an  outline  of  Jewish  literature 
three  plans  are  possible.  One  can  divide 
the  subject  according  to  Periods.  Starting 
with  the  Rabbinic  Age  and  closing  with 
the  activity  of  the  earlier  Gaonim,  or  Per- 
sian Rabbis,  the  First  Period  would  carry 


8  PRE  FA  CE 

us  to  the  eighth  or  the  ninth  century.     A 
well-marked  Second  Period  is  that  of  the 
Arabic-Spanish    writers,    a    period    which 
would   extend   from   the   ninth   to   the   fif- 
teenth century.     From  the  sixteenth  to  the 
eighteenth   century  forms  a  Third  Period 
with   distinct   characteristics.     Finally,   the 
career  of  Mendelssohn  marks  the  definite 
beginning  of  the  Modern  Period.     Such  a 
grouping  of  the  facts  presents  many  ad- 
vantages,   but    it    somewhat    obscures    the 
varying   conditions   prevalent   at    one   and 
the  same  time  in  different  countries  where 
the     Jews     were     settled.      Hence     some 
writers  have  preferred  to  arrange  the  ma- 
terial under  the  different  Countries.     It  is 
quite  possible  to  draw  a  map  of  the  world's 
civilization  by  merely  marking  the  succes- 
sive places  in  which  Jewish  literature  has 
fixed  its  head-quarters.     But,  on  the  other 
hand,  such  a  method  of  classification  has 
the    disadvantage   that    it   leads   to    much 
overlapping.     For  long  intervals  together, 


PRE  FA  CE  9 

it  is  impossible  to  separate  Italy  from 
Spain,  France  from  Germany,  Persia  from 
Egypt,  Constantinople  from  Amsterdam. 
This  has  induced  other  writers  to  propose 
a  third  method  and  to  trace  Influences,  to 
indicate  that,  whereas  Rabbinism  may  be 
termed  the  native  product  of  the  Jewish 
genius,  the  scientific,  poetical,  and  philo- 
sophical tendencies  of  Jewish  writers  in  the 
Middle  Ages  were  due  to  the  interaction  of 
external  and  internal  forces.  Further,  in 
this  arrangement,  the  Ghetto  period  would 
have  a  place  assigned  to  it  as  such,  for  it 
would  again  mark  the  almost  complete 
sway  of  purely  Jewish  forces  in  Jewish  lit- 
erature. Adopting  this  classification,  we 
should  have  a  wave  of  Jewish  impulse,  swol- 
len by  the  accretion  of  foreign  waters,  once 
more  breaking  on  a  Jewish  strand,  with  its 
contents  in  something  like  the  same  condi- 
tion in  which  they  left  the  original  spring. 
All  these  three  methods  are  true,  and  this 
has  impelled  me  to  refuse  to  follow  any  one 


IO  PREFACE 

of  them  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  two. 
I  have  tried  to  trace  influences,  to  observe 
periods,  to  distinguish  countries.  I  have 
also  tried  to  derive  color  and  vividness  by 
selecting  prominent  personalities  round 
which  to  group  whole  cycles  of  facts. 
Thus,  some  of  the  chapters  bear  the  names 
of  famous  men,  others  are  entitled  from 
periods,  others  from  countries,  and  yet 
others  are  named  from  the  general  cur- 
rents of  European  thought.  In  all  this 
my  aim  has  been  very  modest.  I  have 
done  little  in  the  way  of  literary  criticism, 
but  I  felt  that  a  dry  collection  of  names  and 
dates  was  the  very  thing  I  had  to  avoid. 
I  need  not  say  that  I  have  done  my  best  to 
ensure  accuracy  in  my  statements  by  re- 
ferring to  the  best  authorities  known  to  me 
on  each  division  of  the  subject.  To  name 
the  works  to  which  I  am  indebted  would 
need  a  list  of  many  of  the  best-known  pro- 
ducts of  recent  Continental  and  American 
scholarship.     At  the  end  of  every  chapter 


PREFA  CE  1 1 

I  have,  however,  given  references  to  some 
English  works  and  essays.  Graetz  is  cited 
in  the  English  translation  published  by  the 
Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America. 
The  figures  in  brackets  refer  to  the  edition 
published  in  London.  The  American  and 
the  English  editions  of  S.  Schechter's 
"  Studies  in  Judaism  "  are  similarly  refer- 
red to. 

Of  one  thing  I  am  confident.  No  pre- 
sentation of  the  facts,  however  bald  and  in- 
adequate it  be,  can  obscure  the  truth  that 
this  little  book  deals  with  a  great  and  an 
inspiring  literature.  It  is  possible  to  ques- 
tion whether  the  books  of  great  Jews  al- 
ways belonged  to  the  great  books  of  the 
world.  There  may  have  been,  and  there 
were,  greater  legalists  than  Rashi,  greater 
poets  than  Jehuda  Halevi,  greater  philoso- 
phers than  Maimonides,  greater  moralists 
than  Bachya.  But  there  has  been  no 
greater  literature  than  that  which  these 
and  numerous  other  Jews  represent. 


12  PREFACE 

Rabbinism  was  a  sequel  to  the  Bible,  and 
if  like  all  sequels  it  was  unequal  to  its  ori- 
ginal, it  nevertheless  shared  its  greatness. 
The  works  of  all  Jews  up  to  the  modern 
period  were  the  sequel  to  this  sequel. 
Through  them  all  may  be  detected  the  uni- 
fying principle  that  literature  in  its  truest 
sense  includes  life  itself;  that  intellect  is 
the  handmaid  to  conscience;  and  that  the 
best  books  are  those  which  best  teach  men 
how  to  live.  This  underlying  unity  gave 
more  harmony  to  Jewish  literature  than 
is  possessed  by  many  literatures  more  dis- 
tinctively national.  The  maxim,  "  Right- 
eousness delivers  from  death,"  applies  to 
books  as  well  as  to  men.  A  literature 
whose  consistent  theme  is  Righteousness 
is  immortal.  On  the  very  day  on  which 
Jerusalem  fell,  this  theory  of  the  intercon- 
nection between  literature  and  life  became 
the  fixed  principle  of  Jewish  thought,  and 
it  ceased  to  hold  undisputed  sway  only  in 
the   age   of    Mendelssohn.     It   was   in    the 


PRE  FA  CE 


13 


"  Vineyard  "  of  Jamnia  that  the  theory  re- 
ceived its  firm  foundation.  A  starting- 
point  for  this  volume  will  therefore  be 
sought  in  the  meeting-place  in  which  the 
Rabbis,  exiled  from  the  Holy  City,  found 
a  new  fatherland  in  the  Book  of  books. 


Chaptek 


CONTENTS 

Pace 

Preface    5 

I     The  "Vineyard"  at  Jamnia       .      .       19 

Schools  at  Jamnia,  Lydda,  Usha,  and 
Sepphoris. — The  Tannaim  compile  the 
Mishnah. — Jochanan,  Akiba,  Meir,  Ju- 
dah. — Aquila. 

II     Flavius   Josephus  and   the    Jewish 

Sibyl 33 

III  The  Talmud 43 

The  Amoraim  compile  the  Palestinian 
Talmud  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud. 
— Representative  Amoraim  ; 

I  (220-2S0)  Palestine — Jochanan, 
Simon,  Joshua,  Simlai  ;  Baby- 
lonia— Rab  and  Samuel. 
II  (280-320)  Palestine — Ami,  Assi, 
Abbahu,  Chiya;  Babylonia — 
II una  and  Zeira. 

III  (320-3S0)  Babylonia — Rabba, 

Abayi,  Rava. 

IV  (380-430)    Babylonia — Ashi    (first 

compilation  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud). 
V  and  VI  (430-500)  Babylonia — Ra- 
bina  (completion  of  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud). 

IV  The  Midrash  and  its  Poetry    .       .       55 

Mechilta,  Sifra,  Sifre,  Pesikta,  Tan- 
chuma,  Midrash  Rabbah,  Yalkut. — 
Proverbs.  —  Parables. — Fables. 


!6  CONTENTS 


Chapter  ' AGE 

V    The  Letters  of  the  Gaonim    .      .       68 

Representative  Gaonim  : 

Achai,    Amram,    Zemach,    Saadiah, 
Sherira,  Samuel,  Hai. 

VI     The  Karaitic  Literature   ...       75 

Anan,  Nahavendi,  Abul-Faraj,  Salman, 
Sahal,  al-Bazir,  Hassan,  Japhet,  Kir- 
kisani,  Judah  Hadassi,  Isaac  Troki. 

VII     The  New-Hebrew  Piyut       ...       83 
Kalirian  and  Spanish  Piyutim  (Poems). 
— Jannai. — Kalir. 

VIII    Saadiah  of  Fayum 91 

Translation  of  the  Bible  into  Arabic. — 
Foundation  of  a  Jewish  Philosophy  of 
Religion. 

IX     Dawn  of  the  Spanish  Era  ...       99 

Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut.—  Menachem  and 
Dunash,  Chayuj  and  Janach. — Samuel 

the  Nagid. 

X    The  Spanish-Jewish  Poets  (I)     .      .107 

Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol.— "The  Royal 
Crown." — Moses  Ibn  Ezra. — Abraham 
Ibn  Ezra.— The  Biblical  Commentaries 
of  Ibn  Ezra  and  the  Kimchis. 

XI      RASHI  AND  ALFASSI I  19 

Nathan  of  Rome. — Alfassi. — Rashi. — 
Rashbam. 

XII     The  Spanish-Jewish  Poets  (II)  .       .     126 
Jehuda  Halevi. — Charizi. 

XIII     Moses  Maimonides 1 34 

Maimon,  Rambam  =  R.  Moses,  the  son 
of  Maimon,  Maimonides. — His  Yad 
Hachazaka  and  Moreh  Nebuchim.— 
Gersonides. — Crescas. — Albo. 


COXTEXTS  17 


Chapter  Page 

XIV    The  Diffusion  of  Science   ...     144 

Provencal  Translators. — The  Ibn  Tib- 
bons. — Italian  Translators. — Jacob  An- 
atoli.—  Kalonymos. —  Scientific  Liter- 
ature. 

XV     The  Diffusion  of  Folk-Tales  .      .     153 

Barlaam  and  Joshaphat. — The  Fables  of 
Bidpai. — Abraham  Ibn  Chisdai. — 
Berachya  ha-Nakdan.  —Joseph  Zabara. 

XVI     Moses  Nachmanides        ....     160 

French  and  Spanish  Talmudists. — The 
Tossafists,  Asher  of  Speyer,  Tarn, 
Isaac  of  Dompaire,  Baruch  of  Ratis- 
bon,  Perez  of  Corbeil. — Nachmanides' 
Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch. — 
Public  controversies  between  Jews  and 
Christians. 

XVII     The  Zohar  and  Later  Mysticism    .     169 

Kabbala.— The  Bahir.— Abulafia.— Moses 
of  Leon.— The  Zohar.— Isaac  Lurya.— 
Isaiah  Hurwitz. — Christian  Kabbalists. 
— The  Chassidim. 

XVIII    Italian  Jewish  Poetry  .      .      .      .178 

Emmanuel  and  Dante. — The  Machberoth. 
— Judah  Romano. — Kalonymos. — The 
Eben  Bochan.— Moses  Rieti. — Messer 
Leon. 

XIX     Ethical  Literature       ....     189 

Bachya  Ibn  Pekuda.— Choboth  ha-Leba- 
both. — Sefer  ha-Chassidim.— Rokeach. 
— Yedaiah  Bedaressi's  Bechinath 
Olam. — Isaac  Aboab's  Menorath  ha- 
Maor. — Ihn  Chabib's  "Eyeofjacob." — 
Zevaoth,  <>r  Ethical  Wills.— Joseph  Ibn 
Caspi. — Solomon  Alami. 


1 8 


CONTENTS 


Chapter 

XX 


Travellers'  Tales 


Page 
200 


Eldad  the  Danite. — Benjamin  of  Tudela. 
— Petachiah  of  Ratisbon. — Esthori 
Parchi. —  Abraham  Farissol. —  David 
Reubeni  and  Molcho. — Antonio  de 
Montesinos  and  Manasseh  ben  Israel. 
— Tobiah  Cohen. — Wessely. 

XXI     Historians  and  Chroniclers     . 

Order  of  the  Tannaim  and  Amoraim.— 
Achimaaz. — Abraham  Ibn  Uaud. — 
Josippon. — Historical  Elegies,  or  Seli- 
choth. — Memorial  Books. — Abraham 
Zacnto. —  Elijah  Kapsali. —  Usque.— 
Ibn  Verga. — Joseph  Cohen. — David 
Gans. — Gedaliah  Ibn  Yachya. — Aza- 
riah  di  Rossi. 

XXII    Isaac  Abarbanel 


Abarbanel's  Philosophy  and  Biblical 
Commentaries. — Elias  Levita.  — Zeeiia 
u-Reena. — Moses  Alshech. — The  Biur. 

XXIII    The  Shulchan  Aruch     .... 


22  C 


Asheri's  Arba  Turim. — Chiddushim  and 
Teshuboth. — Solomon  ben  Adereth. — 
Meir  of  Rothenburg. — Sheshet  and 
Duran. — Moses  and  Judah  Minz. — 
Jacob  Weil,  Israel  Isserlein,  Maharil. — 
David  Abi  Zimra. — Joseph  Karo. — Jair 
Bacharach.—  Chacham  Zevi. — Jacob 
Emden. — Ezekiel  Landau. 

XXIV     Amsterdam    in    the   Seventeenth     243 
Century     

Manasseh  ben  Israel. — Baruch  Spinoza. 
— The  Drama  in  Hebrew. — Moses 
Zacut,  Joseph  Felix  Penso,  Moses 
Chayim  Luzzatto. 

XXV     Moses  Mendelssohn       ....     253 

Mendelssohn's  German  Translation  of 
the  Bible. — Phredo.— Jerusalem. — Les- 
sing's  Nathan  the  Wise. 

Index 263 


CHAPTERS  ON 

EWISH    LITERATURE 

CHAPTER  I 

The  "Vineyard"  at  Jamnia 

Schools  at  Jamnia,  Lydda,  Usha,  and  Sepphoris.— 
The  Tannaim  compile  the  Mishnah.— Jochanan, 
Akiba,  Meir,  Judah.— Aquila. 

The  story  of  Jewish  literature,  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  in 
the  year  70  of  the  Christian  era,  centres 
round  the  city  of  Jamnia.  Jamnia,  or  Jab- 
neh,  lay  near  the  sea,  beautifully  situated 
on  the  slopes  of  a  gentle  hill  in  the  low- 
lands, about  twenty-eight  miles  from  the 
capital.  When  Vespasian  was  advancing 
to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  he  occupied 
Jamnia,  and  thither  the  Jewish  Synhe- 
drion,  or  Great  Council,  transferred  itself 
when   Jerusalem    fell.     A    college   existed 


20  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

there  already,  but  Jamnia  then  became  the 
head-quarters  of  Jewish  learning,  and  re- 
tained that  position  till  the  year  135.  At 
that  date  the  learned  circle  moved  further 
north,  to  Galilee,  and,  besides  the  famous 
school  at  Lydda  in  Judea,  others  were 
founded  in  Tiberias,  Usha,  and  Sepphoris. 

The  real  founder  of  the  College  at  Jam- 
nia was  Jochanan,  the  son  of  Zakkai,  called 
"  the  father  of  wisdom."  Like  the  Greek 
philosophers  who  taught  their  pupils  in  the 
gardens  of  the  "  Academy  "  at  Athens,  the 
Rabbis  may  have  lectured  to  their  students 
in  a  "  Vineyard "  at  Jamnia.  Possibly 
the  term  "  Vineyard  "  was  only  a  metaphor 
applied  to  the  meeting-place  of  the  Wise 
at  Jamnia,  but,  at  all  events,  the  result  of 
these  pleasant  intellectual  gatherings  was 
the  Rabbinical  literature.  Jochanan  him- 
self was  a  typical  Rabbi.  For  a  great  part 
of  his  life  he  followed  a  mercantile  pursuit, 
and  earned  his  bread  by  manual  labor. 
His  originality  as  a  teacher  lay  in  his  per- 


THE  VINEYARD  AT JAMNIA  21 

ception  that  Judaism  could  survive  the  loss 
of  its  national  centre.  He  felt  that  "  char- 
ity and  the  love  of  men  may  replace  the 
sacrifices."  He  would  have  preferred  his 
brethren  to  submit  to  Rome,  and  his  polit- 
ical foresight  was  justified  when  the  war 
of  independence  closed  in  disaster.  As 
Graetz  has  well  said,  like  Jeremiah  Jocha- 
nan  wept  over  the  desolation  of  Zion,  but 
like  Zerubbabel  he  created  a  new  sanctu- 
ary. Jochanan's  new  sanctuary  was  the 
school. 

In  the  "  Vineyard  "  at  Jamnia,  the  Jew- 
ish tradition  was  the  subject  of  much  ani- 
mated inquiry.  The  religious,  ethical, 
and  practical  literature  of  the  past  was 
sifted  and  treasured,  and  fresh  additions 
were  made.  But  not  much  was  written, 
for  until  the  close  of  the  second  century 
the  new  literature  of  the  Jews  was  oral. 
The  Bible  was  written  down,  and  read 
from  scrolls,  but  the  Rabbinical  literature 
was  committed  to  memory  piecemeal,  and 


JEWISH  LITERATURE 


handed  down  from  teacher  to  pupil.  Notes 
were  perhaps  taken  in  writing,  but  even 
when  the  Oral  Literature  was  collected, 
and  arranged  as  a  book,  it  is  believed  by 
many  authorities  that  the  book  so  compiled 
remained  for  a  considerable  period  an  oral 
and  not  a  written  book. 

This  book  was  called  the  MisJinah  (from 
the  verb  sJiana,  "  to  repeat "  or  "  to 
learn  ").  The  Mishnah  was  not  the  work 
of  one  man  or  of  one  age.  So  long  was  it 
in  growing,  that  its  birth  dates  from  long 
before  the  destruction  of  the  Temple.  But 
the  men  most  closely  associated  with  the 
compilation  of  the  Mishnah  were  the  Tan- 
naim  (from  the  root  tana,  which  has  the 
same  meaning  as  sJiana).  There  were 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  these 
Tannaim  between  the  years  70  and  200 
C.  E.,  and  they  may  be  conveniently  ar- 
ranged in  four  generations.  From  each 
generation  one  typical  representative  will 
here  be  selected. 


THE   VINE  YARD  A  T  J  A  MX /A  2  3 

The  Tannaim 

First  Generation,  70  to  100  C.  E. 
Jochanan,  the  son  of  Zakkai 

Second  (feneration,   100  to  130  C.  E. 
Akiba 

Third  Generation,   130  to  160  C.  E. 
Meir 

Fourth  Generation,  160  to  200  C.  E. 
Judah  the  Prince 

The  Tannaim  were  the  possessors  of 
what  was  perhaps  the  greatest  principle 
that  dominated  a  literature  until  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  They  main- 
tained that  literature  and  life  were  co-ex- 
tensive. It  was  said  of  Jochanan,  the  son 
of  Zakkai,  that  he  never  walked  a  single 
step  without  thinking  of  God.  Learning 
the  Torah,  that  is,  the  Law,  the  authorized 
Word  of  God,  and  its  Prophetical  and 
Rabbinical  developments,  was  man's  su- 
preme duty.     "  If  thou  hast  learned  much 


24  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Torah,  ascribe  not  any  merit  to  thyself,  for 
therefor  wast  thou  created."  Man  was 
created  to  learn;  literature  was  the  aim  of 
life.  We  have  already  seen  what  kind  of 
literature.  Jochanan  once  said  to  his  five 
favorite  disciples:  "Go  forth  and  consider 
which  is  the  good  way  to  which  a  man 
should  cleave."  He  received  various  an- 
swers, but  he  most  approved  of  this  re- 
sponse :  "  A  good  heart  is  the  way."  Lit- 
erature is  life  if  it  be  a  heart-literature — this 
may  be  regarded  as  the  final  justification  of 
the  union  effected  in  the  Mishnah  between 
learning  and  righteousness. 

Akiba,  who  may  be  taken  to  represent 
the  second  generation  of  Tannaim,  differed 
in  character  from  Jochanan.  Jochanan  had 
been  a  member  of  the  peace  party  in  the 
years  66  to  70;  Akiba  was  a  patriot,  and 
took  a  personal  part  in  the  later  struggle 
against  Rome,  which  was  organized  by  the 
heroic  Bar  Cochba  in  the  years  131  to  135. 
Akiba  set  his  face  against  frivolity,  and  pro- 


THE   J  TINE  1  rARD  A  T  JAMNL  1  25 


nonnced  silence  a  fence  about  wisdom.    But 
his  disposition  was  resolute  rather  than  se- 
vere.    Of  him  the  most  romantic  of  love 
stories  is  told.     He  was  a  herdsman,  and 
fell  in  love  with  his  master's  daughter,  who 
endured  poverty  as  his  devoted  wife,  and 
was  glorified  in  her  husband's  fame.     But 
whatever  contrast  there  may  have  been  in 
the  two  characters,  Akiba,  like  Jochanan, 
believed  that  a  literature  was  worthless  un- 
less it   expressed   itself  in   the   life   of   the 
scholar.     He  and  his  school   held   in   low 
esteem  the  man  who,  though  learned,  led 
an  evil  life,  but  they  took  as  their  ideal  the 
man  whose  moral  excellence  was  more  con- 
spicuous than  his  learning.     As  R.  Eleazar, 
the    son    of    Azariah,    said :     "  He    whose 
knowledge  is  in  excess  of  his  good  deeds  is 
like  a  tree  whose  branches  are  many  and  its 
roots  scanty;  the  wind  comes,  uproots,  and 
overturns  it.    But  he  whose  good  deeds  are 
more  than  his  knowledge  is  like  a  tree  with 
few  branches  but  manv  roots,  so  that  if  all 


26  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

the  winds  in  the  world  come  and  blow  upon 
it,  it  remains  firm  in  its  place."  Man,  ac- 
cording to  Akiba,  is  master  of  his  own  des- 
tiny; he  needs  God's  grace  to  triumph  over 
evil,  yet  the  triumph  depends  on  his  own 
efforts :  "  Everything  is  seen,  yet  freedom 
of  choice  is  given;  the  world  is  judged  by 
grace,  yet  all  is  according  to  the  work." 
The  Torah,  the  literature  of  Israel,  was  to 
Akiba  "  a  desirable  instrument,"  a  means 
to  life. 

Among  the  distinctions  of  Akiba's  school 
must  be  named  the  first  literal  translation 
of  the  Bible  into  Greek.  This  work  was 
done  towards  the  close  of  the  second  cen- 
tury by  Aquila,  a  proselyte,  who  was  in- 
spired by  Akiba's  teaching.  Aquila's  ver- 
sion was  inferior  to  the  Alexandrian  Greek 
version,  called  the  Septuagint,  in  graces 
of  style,  but  was  superior  in  accuracy. 
Aquila  followed  the  Hebrew  text  word  by 
word.  This  translator  is  identical  with 
Onkelos,   to  whom  in  later  centuries  the 


THE   J  TNE  ]  ARD  A  T  JAMNIA  27 

Aramaic  translation  {Targum  Onkelos)  of 
the  Pentateuch  was  ascribed.  Aramaic 
versions  of  the  Bible  were  made  at  a  very 
early  period,  and  the  Targum  Onkelos  may 
contain  ancient  elements,  but  in  its  present 
form  it  is  not  earlier  than  the  fifth  century. 
Meir,  whom  we  take  as  representative  of 
the  third  generation  of  Tannaim,  was  filled 
with  the  widest  sympathies.  In  his  con- 
ception of  truth,  everything  that  men  can 
know  belonged  to  the  Torah.  Not  that 
the  Torah  superseded  or  absorbed  all  other 
knowledge,  but  that  the  Torah  needed,  for 
its  right  study,  all  the  aids  which  science 
and  secular  information  could  supply.  In 
this  way  Jewish  literature  was  to  some  ex- 
tent saved  from  the  danger  of  becoming  a 
merely  religious  exercise,  and  in  later  cen- 
turies, when  the  mass  of  Jews  were  dis- 
posed to  despise  and  even  discourage  scien- 
tific and  philosophical  culture,  a  minority 
was  always  prepared  to  resist  this  tendency 
and,  on  the  ground  of  the  views  of  some 


28  JEWISH  LITER  A  TURE 

of  the  Tannaim  like  Meir,  claimed  the  right 
to  study  what  we  should  now  term  secular 
sciences.  The  width  of  Meir's  sympathies 
may  be  seen  in  his  tolerant  conduct  to- 
wards his  friend  Elisha,  the  son  of  Abuya. 
When  the  latter  forsook  Judaism,  Meir  re- 
mained true  to  Elisha.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  the  effort  to  win  back  his  old  friend, 
and,  though  he  failed,  he  never  ceased  to 
love  him.  Again,  Meir  was  famed  for  his 
knowledge  of  fables,  in  antiquity  a  branch 
of  the  wisdom  of  all  the  Eastern  world. 
Meir's  large-mindedness  was  matched  by 
his  large-heartedness,  and  in  his  wife  Beru- 
riah  he  possessed  a  companion  whose  ten- 
der sympathies  and  fine  toleration  matched 
his  own. 

The  fourth  generation  of  Tannaim  is 
overshadowed  by  the  fame  of  Judah  the 
Prince,  Rabbi,  as  he  was  simply  called.  He 
lived  from  150  to  210,  and  with  his  name  is 
associated  the  compilation  of  the  Mishnah. 
A  man  of  genial  manners,  strong  intellec- 


THE   I TNE ) \l RD  AT JAMNIA  29 

tual  grasp,  he  was  the  exemplar  also  of 
princely  hospitality  and  of  friendship  with 
others  than  Jews.  His  intercourse  with 
one  of  the  Antonines  was  typical  of  his  wide 
culture.  Life  was  not,  in  Rabbi  Judah's 
view,  compounded  of  smaller  and  larger 
incidents,  but  all  the  affairs  of  life  were 
parts  of  the  great  divine  scheme.  "  Reflect 
upon  three  things,  and  thou  wilt  not  fall 
into  the  power  of  sin :  Know  what  is  above 
thee — a  seeing  eye  and  a  hearing  ear — and 
all  thy  deeds  are  written  in  a  book." 

The  Mishnah,  which  deals  with  things 
great  and  small,  with  everything  that  con- 
cerns men,  is  the  literary  expression  of  this 
view  of  life.  Its  language  is  the  new- 
Hebrew,  a  simple,  nervous  idiom  suited  to 
practical  life,  but  lacking  the  power  and 
poetry  of  the  Biblical  Hebrew.  It  is  a 
more  useful  but  less  polished  instrument 
than  the  older  language.  The  subject- 
matter  of  the  Mishnah  includes  both  law 
and  morality,  the  affairs  of  the  body,  of  the 


JEWISH  LITER  A  TURE 


soul,  and  of  the  mind.  Business,  religion, 
social  duties,  ritual,  are  all  dealt  with  in  one 
and  the  same  code.  The  fault  of  this  con- 
ception is,  that  by  associating  things  of  un- 
equal importance,  both  the  mind  and  the 
conscience  may  become  incapable  of  dis- 
criminating the  great  from  the  small,  the 
external  from  the  spiritual.  Another  ill 
consequence  was  that,  as  literature  corres- 
ponded so  closely  with  life,  literature  could 
not  correct  the  faults  of  life,  when  life  be- 
came cramped  or  stagnant.  The  modern 
spirit  differs  from  the  ancient  chiefly  in 
that  literature  has  now  become  an  inde- 
pendent force,  which  may  freshen  and  stim- 
ulate life.  But  the  older  ideal  was  never- 
theless a  great  one.  That  man's  life  is  a 
unity;  that  his  conduct  is  in  all  its  parts 
within  the  sphere  of  ethics  and  religion; 
that  his  mind  and  conscience  are  not  inde- 
pendent, but  two  sides  of  the  same  thing; 
and  that  therefore  his  religious,  ethical, 
aesthetic,  and  intellectual  literature  is  one 


THE  I  TNE  \  ARD  A  T  J.  I  MX/.  I  3  I 

and  indivisible, — this  was  a  noble  concep- 
tion which,  with  all  its  weakness,  had  dis- 
tinct points  of  superiority  over  the  modern 
view. 

The  Mishnah  is  divided  into  six  parts, 
or  Orders  (Sedarim);  each  Order  into 
Tractates  (Massechtoth);  each  Tractate  in- 
to Chapters  (Perakim);  each  Chapter  into 
Paragraphs  (each  called  a  Mishnah).  The 
six  Orders  are  as  follows : 

Zeraim  ("  Seeds  ").  Deals  with  the  laws 
connected  with  Agriculture,  and  opens 
with  a  Tractate  on  Prayer  ("  Blessings"). 

Moed   ("  Festival  ").      On  Festivals. 

Nashim  ("  Women  ").  On  the  laws  re- 
lating to  Marriage,  etc. 

Nezikin  ("  Damages ").  On  civil  and 
criminal  Law. 

Kodashim  ("  Holy  Things  ").  On  Sac- 
rifices, etc. 

Teharoth  ("  Purifications  ").  On  per- 
sonal and  ritual  Purity. 


32  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
The  Mishnah. 

Graetz. — History  of  the  Jews,  English  translation. 
Vol.  II,  chapters  13-17  (character  of  the  Mish- 
nah, end  of  ch.  17). 
Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature  (London,  1857), 

P-  13- 

Schiller-Szinessy. — Encyclopedia  Britannica  (Ninth 
Edition),  Vol.  XVI,  p.  502. 

De  Sola  and  Raphall.— Eighteen  Tractates  from  the 
Mishnah  (English  translation,  London). 

C.  Taylor. — Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers  (Cam- 
bridge, 1897). 

A.  Kohut. — The  Ethics  of  the  Fathers  (New  York, 
1885). 

G.  Karpeles. — A  Sketch  of  lavish  History  (Jewish 
Publication  Society  of  America,  1895),  p.  40. 

Aquila. 

F.  C.  Burkitt. — Jczvish  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  X. 
p.  207. 


CHAPTER  II 
Flavius  Josephus  and  the  Jewish  Sibyl 

Great  national  crises  usually  produce  an 
historical  literature.  This  is  more  likely 
to  happen  with  the  nation  that  wins  in  a 
war  than  with  the  nation  that  loses.  Thus, 
in  the  Maccabean  period,  historical  works 
dealing  with  the  glorious  struggle  and  its 
triumphant  termination  were  written  by 
Jews  both  in  Hebrew  and  in  Greek.  After 
the  terrible  misfortune  which  befell  the 
Jews  in  the  year  70,  when  Jerusalem  sank 
before  the  Roman  arms  never  to  rise  again, 
little  heart  was  there  for  writing  history. 
Jews  sought  solace  in  their  existing  liter- 
ature rather  than  in  new  productions,  and 
the  Bible  and  the  oral  traditions  that  were 
to  crystallize  a  century  later  into  the  Mish- 
nah  filled  the  national  heart  and  mind. 
Yet  more  than  one  Jew  felt  an  impulse 
3 


34  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

to  write  the  history  of  the  dismal  time. 
Thus  the  first  complete  books  which  ap- 
peared in  Jewish  literature  after  the  loss  of 
nationality  were  historical  works  written 
by  two  men,  Justus  and  Josephus,  both  of 
whom  bore  an  active  part  in  the  most  re- 
cent of  the  wars  which  the}-  recorded. 
Justus  of  Tiberias  wrote  in  Greek  a  terse 
chronicle  entitled,  "  History  of  the  Jewish 
Kings,"  and  also  a  more  detailed  narrative 
of  the  "  Jewish  War  "  with  Rome.  Both 
these  books  are  known  to  us  only  from 
quotations.  The  originals  are  entirely  lost. 
A  happier  fate  has  preserved  the  works 
of  another  Jewish  historian  of  the  same 
period.  Flavins  Josephus  (38  to  95  C.  E.), 
the  literary  and  political  opponent  of  Jus- 
tus. He  wrote  three  histories :  "  Antiquities 
of  the  Jews  ";  an  "  Autobiography  ";  "  The 
Wars  of  the  Jews  ";  together  with  a  reply 
to  the  attacks  of  an  Alexandrian  critic  of 
Judaism,  "  Against  Apion."  The  charac- 
ter  of   Josephus   has   been    variously    esti- 


FLA  I  rIl  'S  JOSEPH  US  3  5 

mated.  Some  regard  him  as  a  patriot,  who 
yielded  to  Rome  only  when  convinced  that 
Jewish  destiny  required  such  submission. 
But  the  most  probable  view  of  his  career 
is  as  follows.  Josephus  was  a  man  of  taste 
and  learning.  He  was  a  student  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics,  which  he  much 
admired,  and  was  also  a  devoted  and  loyal 
lover  of  Judaism.  Unfortunately,  circum- 
stances thrust  him  into  a  political  position 
from  which  he  could  extricate  himself  only 
by  treachery  and  duplicity.  As  a  young 
man  he  had  visited  Rome,  and  there  ac- 
quired enthusiastic  admiration  for  the 
Romans.  When  he  returned  to  Pales- 
tine, he  found  his  countrymen  filled  with 
fiery  patriotism  and  about  to  hurl  them- 
selves against  the  legions  of  the  Caesars. 
To  his  dismay  Josephus  saw  himself  drawn 
into  the  patriotic  vortex.  By  a  strange 
mishap  an  important  command  was  en- 
trusted to  him.  He  betrayed  his  country, 
and  saved  himself  by  eager  submission  to 


36  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

the  Romans.  He  became  a  personal  friend 
of  Vespasian  and  the  constant  companion 
of  his  son  Titus. 

Traitor  though  he  was  to  the  national 
cause,  Josephus  was  a  steadfast  champion 
of  the  Jewish  religion.  All  his  works  are 
animated  with  a  desire  to  present  Judaism 
and  the  Jews  in  the  best  light.  He  was 
indignant  that  heathen  historians  wrote 
with  scorn  of  the  vanquished  Jews,  and  re- 
solved to  describe  the  noble  stand  made  by 
the  Jewish  armies  against  Rome.  He  was 
moved  to  wrath  by  the  Egyptian  Manetho's 
distortion  of  the  ancient  history  of  Israel, 
and  he  could  not  rest  silent  under  the  in- 
sults of  Apion.  The  works  of  Josephus 
are  therefore  works  written  with  a  ten- 
dency to  glorify  his  people  and  his  religion. 
But  they  are  in  the  main  trustworthy,  and 
are,  indeed,  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  in- 
formation for  the  history  of  the  Jews  in 
post-Biblical  times.  His  style  is  clear  and 
attractive,  and  his  power  of  grasping  the 


FLA  1 7  US  JOSEPH  I  S  3  7 

events  of  long  periods  is  comparable  with 
that  of  Polybius.  He  was  no  mere  chroni- 
cler; he  possessed  some  faculty  for  explain- 
ing as  well  as  recording  facts  and  some  real 
insight  into  the  meaning  of  events  passing 
under  his  own  eyes. 

He  wrote  for  the  most  part  in  Greek, 
both  because  that  language  was  familiar 
to  many  cultured  Jews  of  his  day,  and  be- 
cause his  histories  thereby  became  accessi- 
ble to  the  world  of  non-Jewish  readers. 
Sometimes  he  used  both  Aramaic  and 
Greek.  For  instance,  he  produced  his 
"  Jewish  War "  first  in  the  one,  subse- 
quently in  the  other  of  these  languages. 
The  Aramaic  version  has  been  lost,  but 
the  Greek  has  survived.  His  style  is  often 
eloquent,  especially  in  his  book  "  Against 
Apion."  This  was  an  historical  and  philo- 
sophical justification  of  Judaism.  At  the 
close  of  this  work  Josephus  says:  "  And  so 
I  make  bold  to  say  that  we  are  become  the 
teachers  of  other  men  in  the  Greatest  num- 


M\\m\ 


38  JE  H  7.S7/  LITER  A  TURE 

ber  of  things,  and  those  the  most  excel- 
lent." Josephus,  like  the  Jewish  Hellenists 
of  an  earlier  date,  saw  in  Judaism  a  univer- 
sal religion,  which  ought  to  be  shared  by  all 
the  peoples  of  the  earth.  Judaism  was  to 
Josephus,  as  to  Philo,  not  a  contrast  or  an- 
tithesis to  Greek  culture,  but  the  perfection 
and  culmination  of  culture. 

The  most  curious  efforts  to  propagate 
Judaism  were,  however,  those  which  were 
clothed  in  a  Sibylline  disguise.  In  heathen 
antiquity,  the  Sibyl  was  an  inspired  pro- 
phetess whose  mysterious  oracles  con- 
cerned the  destinies  of  cities  and  nations. 
These  oracles  enjoyed  high  esteem  among 
the  cultivated  Greeks,  and,  in  the  second 
century  B.  C.  E.,  some  Alexandrian  Jews 
made  use  of  them  to  recommend  Judaism 
to  the  heathen  world.  In  the  Jewish  Sibyl- 
line books  the  religion  of  Israel  is  pre- 
sented as  a  hope  and  a  threat;  a  menace  to 
those  who  refuse  to  tollow  the  better  life, 
a  promise  of  salvation  to  those  who  repent. 


FLA  1 71  S  JOSEPH  I  S  39 

About  the  year  80  C.  E.,  a  hook  of  this 
kind  was  composed.  It  is  what  is  known 
as  the  Fourth  Book  of  the  Sibylline  Ora- 
cles. The  language  is  Greek,  the  form 
hexameter  verse.  In  this  poem,  the  Sibyl, 
in  the  guise  of  a  prophetess,  tells  of  the 
doom  of  those  who  resist  the  will  of  the 
one  true  God,  praises  the  God  of  Israel, 
and  holds  out  a  beautiful  prospect  to  the 
faithful. 

The  book  opens  with  an  invocation : 

Hear,  people  of  proud  Asia,  Europe,  too, 

How  many  things  by  great,  loud-sounding  mouth, 

All  true  and  of  my  own.  I  prophesy. 

No  oracle  of  false  Apollo  this, 

Whom  vain  men  call  a  god,  tho'  he  deceived; 

But  of  the  mighty  God,  whom  human  hands 

Shaped  not  like  speechless  idols  cut  in  stone. 

The  Sibyl  speaks  of  the  true  God,  to 
love  whom  brings  blessing.  The  ungodly 
triumph  for  a  while,  as  Assyria,  Media, 
Phrygia,  Greece,  and  Egypt  had  tri- 
umphed. Jerusalem  will  fall,  and  the  Tem- 
ple perish  in  flames,  but  retribution  will  fol- 


4<D  JE  WISH  LITER  A  T^URE 

low,  the  earth  will  be  desolated  by  the 
divine  wrath,  the  race  of  men  and  cities  and 
rivers  will  be  reduced  to  smoky  dust,  unless 
moral  amendment  comes  betimes.  Then 
the  Sibyl's  note  changes  into  a  prophecy 
of  Messianic  judgment  and  bliss,  and  she 
ends  with  a  comforting  message : 

But  when  all  things  become  an  ashy  pile, 
God  will  put  out  the  fire  unspeakable 
Which  he  once  kindled,  and  the  bones  and  ashes 
Of  men  will  God  himself  again  transform, 
And  raise  up  mortals  as  they  were  before. 
And  then  will  be  the  judgment,  God  himself 
Will  sit  as  judge,  and  judge  the  world  again. 
As  many  as  committed  impious  sins 
Shall  Stygian  Gehenna's  depths  conceal 
'Neath  molten  earth  and  dismal  Tartarus. 

But  the  pious  shall  again  live  on  the  earth, 
And  God  will  give  them  spirit,  life,  and  means 
Of  nourishment,  and  all  shall  see  themselves. 
Beholding  the  sun's  sweet  and  cheerful  light. 
O  happiest  men  who  at  that  time  shall  live! 

The  Jews  found  some  consolation  for 
present  sorrows  in  the  thought  of  past  de- 
liverances. The  short  historical  record 
known     as     the     "  Scroll     of     Fasting " 


FLA  V1US  JOSEPH  US  4 1 

(Megillath  Taanith)  was  perhaps  begun  be- 
fore the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  but  was 
completed  after  the  death  of  Trajan  in  118. 
This  scroll  contained  thirty-five  brief  para- 
graphs written  in  Aramaic.  The  compila- 
tion, which  is  of  great  historical  value,  fol- 
lows the  order  of  the  Jewish  Calendar,  be- 
ginning with  the  month  Nisan  and  ending 
with  Adar.  The  entries  in  the  list  relate 
to  the  days  on  which  it  was  held  unlawful 
to  fast,  and  many  of  these  days  were  anni- 
versaries of  national  victories.  The  Me- 
gillath Taanith  contains  no  jubilations  over 
these  triumphs,  but  is  a  sober  record  of 
facts.  It  is  a  precious  survival  of  the  his- 
torical works  compiled  by  the  Jews  before 
their  dispersion  from  Palestine.  Such 
works  differ  from  those  of  Josephus  and 
the  Sibyl  in  their  motive.  They  were  not 
designed  to  win  foreign  admiration  for  Ju- 
daism, but  to  provide  an  accurate  record 
for  home  use  and  inspire  the  Jews  with 
hope  amid  the  threatening  prospects  of  life. 


42  JEWISH  LITERATURE 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

JOSEPHUS. 

Whiston's  English  Translation,  revised  by  Shilleto 

(1889). 
Graetz  —  II,  p.  276  [278]. 

Sibylline  Oracles. 

S.  A.  Hirsch. — lavish  Sibylline  Oracles,  J.  Q.  R.,  II, 
p.  406. 


CHAPTER  III 
The  Talmud 

The  Amoraim  compile  the  Palestinian  Talmud  and 
the  Babylonian  Talmud. — Representative  Am- 
oraim: 

I  (220-280)  Palestine — Jochanan,  Simon, 

Joshua,     Simlai;     Babylonia — Rab     and 
Samuel. 
II  (280-320)  Palestine — Ami,    Assi,    Abbahu, 
Chiya;  Babylonia — Huna  and  Zeira. 

III  (320-380)  Babylonia — Rabba,  Abayi,  Rava. 

IV  (380-430)  Babylonia — Ashi    (first   compila- 

tion of  the  Babylonian  Talmud). 

V  and  VI  (430-500)  Babylonia— Rabina  (com- 

pletion of  the  Babylonian  Talmud). 

The  Talmud,  or  Gemara  ("  Doctrine,"  or 
"  Completion  "),  was  a  natural  develop- 
ment of  the  Mishnah.  The  Talmud  con- 
tains, indeed,  many  elements  as  old  as  the 
Mishnah,  some  even  older.  But,  consid- 
ered as  a  whole,  the  Talmud  is  a  commen- 
tary on  the  work  of  the  Tannaim.  It  is 
written,  not  in  Hebrew,  as  the  Mishnah  is, 


44  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

but  in  a  popular  Aramaic.  There  are  two 
distinct  works  to  which  the  title  Talmud  is 
applied;  the  one  is  the  Jerusalem  Talmud 
(completed  about  the  year  370  C.  E.),  the 
other  the  Babylonian  (completed  a  century 
later).  At  first,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Rab- 
binical schools  were  founded  on  Jewish 
soil.  But  Palestine  did  not  continue  to 
offer  a  friendly  welcome.  Under  the  more 
tolerant  rulers  of  Babylonia  or  Persia,  Jew- 
ish learning  found  a  refuge  from  the  harsh- 
ness experienced  under  those  of  the  Holy 
Land.  The  Babylonian  Jewish  schools 
in  Nehardea,  Sura,  and  Pumbeditha  rapidly 
surpassed  the  Palestinian  in  reputation, 
and  in  the  year  350  C.  E.,  owing  to  natural 
decay,  the  Palestinian  schools  closed. 

The  Talmud  is  accordingly  not  one 
work,  but  two,  the  one  the  literary  pro- 
duct of  the  Palestinian,  the  other,  of  the 
Babylonian  Amor  aim.  The  latter  is  the 
larger,  the  more  studied,  the  better  pre- 
served,   and   to   it   attention   will   here    be 


THE  TALMUD  45 

mainly  confined.  The  Talmud  is  not  a 
book,  it  is  a  literature.  It  contains  a  legal 
code,  a  system  of  ethics,  a  body  of  ritual 
customs,  poetical  passages,  prayers,  his- 
tories, facts  of  science  and  medicine,  and 
fancies  of  folk-lore. 

The  Amoraim  were  what  their  name  im- 
plies, "Expounders,"  or  "  Discoursers  "; 
but  their  expositions  were  often  original 
contributions  to  literature.  Their  work 
extends  over  the  long  interval  between  200 
and  500  C.  E.  The  Amoraim  naturally 
were  men  of  various  character  and  condi- 
tion. Some  were  possessed  of  much  ma- 
terial wealth,  others  were  excessively  poor. 
But  few  of  them  were  professional  men  of 
letters.  Like  the  Tannaim,  the  Amoraim 
were  often  artisans,  field-laborers,  or  phy- 
sicians, whose  heart  was  certainly  in  litera- 
ture, but  whose  hand  was  turned  to  the 
practical  affairs  of  life.  The  men  who 
stood  highest  socially,  the  Princes  of  the 
Captivity  in  Babylonia  and  the  Patriarchs 


46  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TL  'RE 


in  Palestine,  were  not  always  those  vested 
with  the  highest  authority.  Some  of  the 
Amoraim,  again,  were  merely  reeeptive, 
the  medium  through  which  tradition  was 
handed  on;  others  were  creative  as  well. 
To  put  the  same  fact  in  Rabbinical  meta- 
phor, some  were  Sinais  of  learning,  others 
tore  up  mountains,  and  ground  them  to- 
gether in  keen  and  critical  dialectics. 

The  oldest  of  the  Amoraim,  Chanina, 
the  son  of  Chama,  of  Sepphoris  (180-260), 
was  such  a  firm  mountain  of  ancient  learn- 
ing. On  the  other  hand,  Jochanan,  the 
son  of  Napacha  (199-279),  of  dazzling  phy- 
sical beauty,  had  a  more  original  mind. 
His  personal  charms  conveyed  to  him  per- 
haps a  sense  of  the  artistic;  to  him  the 
Greek  language  was  a  delight,  "  an  orna- 
ment of  women."  Simon,  the  son  of 
Lakish  (200-275),  hardy  of  muscle  and  of 
intellect,  started  life  as  a  professional  ath- 
lete. A  later  Rabbi,  Zeira,  was  equally 
noted  for  his  feeble,  unprepossessing  figure 


THE  TALMUD  47 


and  his  nimble,  ingenious  mind.  Another 
contemporary  of  Jochanan,  Joshua,  the  son 
of  Levi,  is  the  hero  of  many  legends.  He 
was  so  tender  to  the  poor  that  he  declared 
his  conviction  that  the  Messiah  would 
arise  among  the  beggars  and  cripples  of 
Rome.  Simlai,  who  was  born  in  Palestine, 
and  migrated  to  Nehardea  in  Babylonia, 
was  more  of  a  poet  than  a  lawyer.  His  love 
was  for  the  ethical  and  poetic  elements  of 
the  Talmud,  the  Hagadah,  as  this  aspect  of 
the  Rabbinical  literature  was  called  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  Halachah,  or  legal  ele- 
ments. Simlai  entered  into  frequent  dis- 
cussions with  the  Christian  Fathers  on  sub- 
jects of  Biblical  exegesis. 

The  centre  of  interest  now  changes  to 
Babylonia.  Here,  in  the  year  219,  Abba 
Areka,  or  Rab  (175-247),  founded  the  Sura 
academy,  which  continued  to  flourish  for 
nearly  eight  centuries.  He  and  his  great 
contemporary  Samuel  (180-257)  enjoy 
with  Jochanan  the  honor  of  supplying  the 


48  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

leading  materials  of  which  the  Talmud  con- 
sists. Samuel  laid  down  a  rule  which, 
based  on  an  utterance  of  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah, enabled  Jews  to  live  and  serve  in 
non-Jewish  countries.  "  The  law  of  the 
land  is  law,"  said  Samuel.  But  he  lived  in 
the  realms  of  the  stars  as  well  as  in  the 
streets  of  his  city.  Samuel  was  an  astron- 
omer, and  he  is  reported  to  have  boasted 
with  truth,  that  "  he  was  as  familiar  with 
the  paths  of  the  stars  as  with  the  streets  of 
Nehardea."  He  arranged  the  Jewish  Cal- 
endar, his  work  in  this  direction  being  per- 
fected by  Hillel  II  in  the  fourth  century. 
Like  Simlai,  Rab  and  Samuel  had  hea- 
then and  Christian  friends.  Origen  and 
Jerome  read  the  Scriptures  under  the  guid- 
ance of  Jews.  The  heathen  philosopher 
Porphyry  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
Book  of  Daniel.  So,  too,  Abbahu,  who 
lived  in  Palestine  a  little  later  on,  fre- 
quented the  society  of  cultivated  Romans, 
and  had  his  familv  taught  Greek.     Abbahu 


THE  TALMUD  49 


was  a  manufacturer  of  veils  for  women's 
wear,  for,  like  many  Amoraim,  he  scorned 
to  make  learning  a  means  of  living.  Ab- 
bahu's  modesty  with  regard  to  his  own 
merits  shows  that  a  Rabbi  was  not  neces- 
sarilv  arrogant  in  pride  of  knowledge! 
Once  Abbahu's  lecture  was  besieged  by  a 
great  crowd,  but  the  audience  of  his  col- 
league Chiya  was  scanty.  '  Thy  teach- 
ing," said  Abbahu  to  Chiya,  "  is  a  rare 
jewel,  of  which  only  an  expert  can  judge; 
mine  is  tinsel,  which  attracts  every  ignor- 
ant eye." 

It  was  Rab,  however,  who  was  the  real 
popularizer  of  Jewish  learning.  He  ar- 
ranged courses  of  lectures  for  the  people 
as  well  as  for  scholars.  Rab's  successor  as 
head  of  the  Sura  school,  I  Tuna  (212-297), 
completed  Rab's  work  in  making  Baby- 
lonia the  chief  centre  of  Jewish  learning. 
Huna  tilled  his  own  fields  for  a  living,  and 
might  often  be  met  going  home  with  his 
spade  over  his  shoulder.  It  was  men  like 
4 


5  O  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

this  who  built  up  the  Jewish  tradition. 
Huna's  predecessor,  however,  had  wider 
experience  of  life,  for  Rab  had  been  a 
student  in  Palestine,  and  was  in  touch 
with  the  Jews  of  many  parts.  From  Rab's 
time  onwards,  learning  became  the  prop- 
erty of  the  whole  people,  and  the  Talmud, 
besides  being  the  literature  of  the  Jewish 
universities,  may  be  called  the  book  of  the 
masses.  It  contains,  not  only  the  legal  and 
ethical  results  of  the  investigations  of  the 
learned,  but  also  the  wisdom  and  supersti- 
tion of  the  masses.  The  Talmud  is  not  ex- 
actly a  national  literature,  but  it  was  a 
unique  bond  between  the  scattered  Jews, 
an  unparallelled  spiritual  and  literary  in- 
strument for  maintaining  the  identity  of 
Judaism  amid  the  many  tribulations  to 
which  the  Jews  were  subjected. 

The  Talmud  owed  much  to  many  minds. 
Externally  it  was  influenced  by  the  na- 
tions with  which  the  Jews  came  into  con- 
tact.     From   the   inside,   the   influences   at 


THE   TALMUD  5  I 

work  were  equally  various.  Jochanan, 
Rab,  and  Samuel  in  the  third  century  pre- 
pared the  material  out  of  which  the  Tal- 
mud was  finally  built.  The  actual  build- 
ing was  done  by  scholars  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. Rabba,  the  son  of  Xachmani  (270- 
330),  Abayi  (280-338),  and  Rava  (299- 
352)  gave  the  finishing  touches  to  the 
method  of  the  Talmud.  Rabba  was  a  man 
of  the  people;  he  was  a  clear  thinker,  and 
loved  to  attract  all  comers  by  an  apt  anec- 
dote. Rava  had  a  superior  sense  of  his 
own  dignity,  and  rather  neglected  the 
needs  of  the  ordinary  man  of  his  day. 
Abayi  was  more  of  the  type  of  the  average 
Rabbi,  acute,  genial,  self-denying.  Under 
the  impulse  of  men  of  the  most  various 
gifts  of  mind  and  heart,  the  Talmud  was 
gradually  constructed,  but  two  names  are 
prominently  associated  with  its  actual  com- 
pilation. These  were  Ashi  (352-427)  and 
Rabina  (died  499).  Ashi  combined  mas- 
sive learning  with  keen  logical  ingenuity. 


52  JE 11  'ISH  LITER  A  TURE 

He  needed  both  for  the  task  to  which  he 
devoted  half  a  century  of  his  life.  He  pos- 
sessed a  vast  memory,  in  which  the  accu- 
mulated tradition  of  six  centuries  was 
stored,  and  he  was  gifted  with  the  mental 
orderliness  which  empowered  him  to  deal 
with  this  bewildering  mass  of  materials. 

It  is  hardly  possible  that  after  the  com- 
pilation of  the  Talmud  it  remained  an  oral 
book,  though  it  must  be  remembered  that 
memory  played  a  much  greater  part  in  ear- 
lier centuries  than  it  does  now.  At  all 
events,  Ashi,  and  after  him  Rabina,  per- 
formed the  great  work  of  systematizing  the 
Rabbinical  literature  at  a  turning-point  in 
the  world's  history.  The  Mishnah  had 
been  begun  at  a  moment  when  the  Roman 
empire  was  at  its  greatest  vigor  and  glory; 
the  Talmud  was  completed  at  the  time 
when  the  Roman  empire  was  in  its  decay. 
That  the  Jews  were  saved  from  similar  dis- 
integration, was  due  very  largely  to  the 
Talmud.     The  Talmud  is  thus  one  of  the 


THE   TALMUD  53 


great  books  of  the  world.  Despite  its 
faults,  its  excessive  casuistry,  its  lack  of 
style  and  form,  its  stupendous  mass  of  de- 
tailed laws  and  restrictions,  it  is  neverthe- 
less a  great  book  in  and  for  itself.  It  is 
impossible  to  consider  it  further  here  in 
its  religious  aspects.  But  something  must 
be  said  in  the  next  chapter  of  that  side 
of  the  Rabbinical  literature  known  as  the 
Mi  J  rash. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
The  Talmud. 

Essays  by  E.  Deutsch  and  A.  Darmesteter  (Jewish 
Publication  Society  of  America). 

Graetz. — II,  18-22  (character  of  the  Talmud,  end  of 
ch.  22). 

Karpeles. — Jewish  Literature  and  other  Essays,  p.  52. 

Steinschneider.— Jewish  Literature,  p.  20. 

Schiller-Szinessy.— Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  35- 

M.  Mielziner. — Introduction  to  the  Talmud  (Cincin- 
nati, 1894). 

S.  Schechter.— Some  Aspects  of  Rabbinic  Theology, 
J.  Q.  R.,  VI,  p.  405.  etc. 

Studies  in  Judaism  (Jewish  Publication  So- 
ciety of  America,  1896),  pp.  155.  182,  213,  233 
[189,  222,  259,  283]. 

B.  Spiers. — School  System  of  the  Talmud  (London, 
1898)  (with  appendix  on  Baba  Kama);  the  Three 


54  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


fold  Cord  (1893)  on  Sanhedrin,  Baba  Metsia,  and 
Baba  Bathra. 

M.  Jastrow. — History  and  Future  of  the  Text  of  the 
Talmud  {Publications  of  the  Gratz  College,  Phila- 
delphia, 1897,  Vol.  I). 

P.  B.  Benny. — Criminal  Code  of  the  Jews  according 
to  the  Talmud  (London,  1880). 

S.  Mendelsohn. — The  Criminal  Jurisprudence  of  the 
Ancient  Hebrews  (Baltimore,  189 1). 

D.  Castelli. — Future  Life  in  Rabbinical  Literature, 
J.  Q.  R„  I,  p.  314. 

M.  Giidemann. — Spirit  and  Letter  in  Judaism  and 
Christianity,  ibid.,  IV,  p.  345. 

I.  Harris. — Rise  and  Development  of  the  Massorah, 
ibid.,  I,  pp.  128,  etc. 

H.  Polano.— The  Talmud  (Philadelphia,  1876). 

I.  Myers.- — Gems  from  the  Talmud  (London,  1894). 

D.  W.  Amram. — The  Jewish  Law  of  Divorce  accord- 
ing to  Bible  and  Talmud  (Philadelphia,  1896). 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Midrash  and  its  Poetry 

Mechilta.   Sifra.   Sifre.   Pesikta,  Tanchuma.   Midrash 
Rabbah,  Yalkut. — Proverbs. — Parables. — Fables. 

In  its  earliest  forms  identical  with  the 
Halachah,  or  the  practical  and  legal  aspects 
of  the  Mishnah  and  the  Talmud,  the  Mid- 
rash,  in  its  fuller  development,  became  an 
independent  branch  of  Rabbinical  litera- 
ture. Like  the  Talmud,  the  Midrash  is  of 
a  composite  nature,  and  under  the  one 
name  the  accumulations  of  ages  are  in- 
cluded. Some  of  its  contents  are  earlier 
than  the  completion  of  the  Bible,  others 
were  collected  and  even  created  as  recently 
as  the  tenth  or  the  eleventh  century  of  the 
current  era. 

Midrash  ("  Study,"  "  Inquiry  ")  was  in 
the  first  instance  an  Explanation  of  the 
Scriptures.     This  explanation  is  often   the 


56  JEW  TSH  LITER  A  Tl  A'  E 

clear,  natural  exposition  of  the  text,  and 
it  enforces  rules  of  conduct  both  ethical 
and  ritual.  The  historical  and  moral  tra- 
ditions which  clustered  round  the  incidents 
and  characters  of  the  Bible  soon  received 
a  more  vivid  setting.  The  poetical  sense 
of  the  Rabbis  expressed  itself  in  a  vast  and 
beautiful  array  of  legendary  additions  to 
the  Bible,  but  the  additions  are  always  de- 
vised with  a  moral  purpose,  to  give  point 
to  a  preacher's  homily  or  to  inspire  the 
imagination  of  the  audience  with  nobler 
fancies.  Besides  being  expository,  the 
Midrash  is,  therefore,  didactic  and  poetical, 
the  moral  being  conveyed  in  the  guise  of  a 
narrative,  amplifying  and  developing  the 
contents  of  Scripture.  The  Midrash  gives 
the  results  of  that  deep  searching  of  the 
Scriptures  which  became  second  nature 
with  the  Jews,  and  it  also  represents  the 
changes  and  expansions  of  ethical  and 
theological  ideals  as  applied  to  a  changing 
and  growing:  life. 


THE  MIDRASH  AND  ITS  POETRY    57 

From  another  point  of  view,  also,  the 
Midrash  is  a  poetical  literature.  Its  func- 
tion as  a  species  of  popular  homilctics 
made  it  necessary  to  appeal  to  the  emo- 
tions. In  its  warm  and  living  application 
of  abstract  truths  to  daily  ends,  in  its  re- 
sponsive and  hopeful  intensification  of  the 
nearness  of  God  to  Israel,  in  its  idealiza- 
tion of  the  past  and  future  of  the  Jews,  it 
employed  the  poet's  art  in  essence,  though 
not  in  form.  It  will  be  seen  later  on  that 
in  another  sense  the  Midrash  is  a  poetical 
literature,  using  the  lore  of  the  folk,  the 
parable,  the  proverb,  the  allegory,  and  the 
fable,  and  often  using  them  in  the  language 
of  poetry. 

The  oldest  Midrash  is  the  actual  report 
of  sermons  and  addresses  of  the  Tannaite 
age;  the  latest  is  a  medieval  compilation 
from  all  extant  sources.  The  works  to 
which  the  name  Midrash  is  applied  are  the 
Mechilta  (to  Exodus);  the  Sifra  (to  Leviti- 
cus); the  Sifrc  (to  Numbers  and  Deuter- 


5  8  JEWISH  LITER  A  TURE 

onomy) ;  the  Pcsikta  (to  various  Sections 
of  the  Bible,  whence  its  name);  the  Tan- 
cJiuma  (to  the  Pentateuch);  the  Midrash 
Rabbah  (the  "  Great  Midrash,"  to  the  Pen- 
tateuch and  the  Five  Scrolls  of  Esther, 
Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the 
Song  of  Songs) ;  and  the  Midrash  Haggadol 
(identical  in  name,  and  in  contents  sim- 
ilar to,  but  not  identical  with,  the  Midrash 
Rabbah);  together  with  a  large  number  of 
collected  Midrashim,  such  as  the  Yalkut, 
and  a  host  of  smaller  works,  several  of 
which  are  no  longer  extant. 

Regarding  the  Midrash  in  its  purely  lit- 
erary aspects,  we  find  its  style  to  be  far 
more  lucid  than  that  of  the  Talmud, 
though  portions  of  the  Halachic  Midrash 
are  identical  in  character  with  the  Talmud. 
The  Midrash  has  many  passages  in  which 
the  simple  graces  of  form  match  the  beauty 
of  idea.  But  for  the  most  part  the  style  is 
simple  and  prosaic,  rather  than  ornate  or 
poetical.     It   produces    its   effects   by   the 


THE  MID  RASH  AXD  ITS  POETRY    59 

most  straightforward  means,  and  strikes  a 
modern  reader  as  lacking  distinction  in 
form.  The  dead  level  of  commonplace  ex- 
pression is,  however,  brightened  by  bril- 
liant passages  of  frequent  occurrence. 
Prayers,  proverbs,  parables,  and  fables,  dot 
the  pages  of  Talmud  and  Midrash  alike. 
The  ancient  proverbs  of  the  Jews  were  more 
than  mere  chips  from  the  block  of  experi- 
ence. They  were  poems,  by  reason  of  their 
use  of  metaphor,  alliteration,  assonance, 
and  imagination.  The  Rabbinical  proverbs 
show   all    these   poetical    qualities. 

He  who  steals  from  a  thief  smells  of  theft. — 
Charity  is  the  salt  of  Wealth.— Silence  is  a  fence 
about  Wisdom. — Many  old  camels  carry  the  skins 
of  their  young.— Two  dry  sticks  and  one  green  burn 
together. — If  the  priest  steals  the  god,  on  what  can 
one  take  an  oath?— All  the  dyers  cannot  bleach  a 
raven's  wing.— Into  a  well  from  which  you  have 
drunk,  cast  no  stone. — Alas  for  the  bread  which  the 
baker  calls  bad.— Slander  is  a  Snake  that  stings  in 
Syria,  and  slays  in  Rome. — The  Dove  escaped  from 
the  Eagle  and  found  a  Serpent  in  her  nest.— Tell  no 
secrets,  for  the  Wall  has  ears. 


60  JE 1 J  'ISH  L I TER,  1  TURE 

These,  like  many  more  of  the  Rabbinical 
proverbs,  are  essentially  poetical.  Some, 
indeed,  are  either  expanded  metaphors  or 
metaphors  touched  by  genius  into  poetry. 
The  alliterative  proverbs  and  maxims  of  the 
Talmud  and  Midrash  are  less  easily  illus- 
trated. Sometimes  they  enshrine  a  pun  or 
a  conceit,  or  depend  for  their  aptness  upon 
an  assonance.  In  some  of  the  Talmudic 
proverbs  there  is  a  spice  of  cynicism.  But 
most  of  them  show  a  genial  attitude  to- 
wards life. 

The  poetical  proverb  easily  passes  into 
the  parable.  Loved  in  Bible  times,  the 
parable  became  in  after  centuries  the  most 
popular  form  of  didactic  poetry  among  the 
Jews.  The  Bible  has  its  parables,  but  the 
Midrash  overflows  with  them.  They  are 
occasionally  re-workings  of  older  thoughts, 
but  mostly  they  are  original  creations,  in- 
vented for  a  special  purpose,  stories  de- 
vised to  drive  home  a  moral,  allegories  ad- 
ministering in  pleasant  wrappings  unpalat- 


THE  MIDRASH  AND  ITS  POETRY    6 1 

able  satires  or  admonitions.  In  all  ages 
up  to  the  present,  Jewish  moralists  have 
relied  on  the  parable  as  their  most  effective 
instrument.  The  poetry  of  the  Jewish 
parables  is  characteristic  also  of  the  para- 
bles imitated  from  the  Jewish,  but  the  latter 
have  a  distinguishing  feature  peculiar  to 
them.  This  is  their  humor,  the  witty  or 
humorous  parable  being  exclusively  Jew- 
ish. The  parable  is  less  spontaneous  than 
the  proverb.  It  is  a  product  of  moral 
poetry  rather  than  of  folk  wisdom.  Yet 
the  parable  was  so  like  the  proverb  that 
the  moral  of  a  parable  often  became  a  new 
proverb.  The  diction  of  the  parable  is  nat- 
urally more  ornate.  By  the  beauty  of  its 
expression,  its  frequent  application  of  rural 
incidents  to  the  life  familiar  in  the  cities,  the 
rhythm  and  flow  of  its  periods,  its  fertile 
imagination,  the  parable  should  certainly 
be  placed  high  in  the  world's  poetry.  But 
it  was  poetry  with  a  tendency,  the  mashal, 
or  proverb-parable,  being  what  the  Rabbis 


62  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

themselves    termed    it,    "  the    clear    small 

light  by  which  lost  jewels  can  be  found." 

The    following    is    a    parable    of    Hillel, 

which  is  here  cited  more  to  mention  that 

noble,  gentle  Sage  than  as  a  specimen  of 

this  class  of  literature.      Hillel  belongs  to  a 

period  earlier  than  that  dealt  with  in  this 

book,     but     his     loving     and     pure     spirit 

breathes  through  the  pages  of  the  Talmud 

and  Midrash : 

Hillel,  the  gentle,  the  beloved  sage, 
Expounded  day  by  day  the  sacred  page 
To  his  disciples  in  the  house  of  learning; 
And  day  by  day,  when  home  at  eve  returning. 
They  lingered,  clust'ring  round  him,  loth  to  part 
From  him  whose  gentle  rule  won  every  heart. 
But  evermore,  when  they  were  wont  to  plead 
For  longer  converse,  forth  he  went  with  speed, 
Saying  each  day:  "  I  go — the  hour  is  late — 
To  tend  the  guest  who  doth  my  coming  wait," 
Until  at  last  they  said:    "The  Rabbi  jests, 
When  telling  us  thus  daily  of  his  guests 
That  wait  for  him."     The  Rabbi  paused  awhile, 
And  then  made  answer:    "  Think  you  I  beguile 
You  with  an  idle  tale?     Not  so,  forsooth! 
I  have  a  guest  whom  I  must  tend  in  truth. 
Is  not  the  soul  of  man  indeed  a  guest. 
Who  in  this  body  deigns  a  while  to  rest, 
And  dwells  with  me  all  peacefully  to-day: 
To-morrow — may  it  not  have  fled  away?  " 


THE  MIDRASH  AND  ITS  POETR  V    63 

Space  must  be  found  for  one  other  par- 
able, taken  (like  many  other  poetical  quo- 
tations in  this  volume)  from  Mrs.  Lucas' 
translations : 

Simeon  ben  Migdal,  at  the  close  of  day, 
Upon  the  shores  of  ocean  chanced  to  stray. 
And  there  a  man  of  form  and  mien  uncouth, 
Dwarfed  and  misshapen,  met  he  on  the  way. 

"  Hail,  Rabbi,"  spoke  the  stranger  passing  by, 
But  Simeon  thus,  discourteous,  made  reply: 

"  Say,  are  there  in  thy  city  many  more, 
Like  unto  thee,  an  insult  to  the  eye?  " 

"  Nay,  that  I  cannot  tell,"  the  wand'rer  said, 
"  But  if  thou  wouldst  ply  the  scorner's  trade, 
Go  first  and  ask  the  Master  Potter  why 
He  has  a  vessel  so  misshapen  made?" 

Then  (so  the  legend  tells)  the  Rabbi  knew 
That  he  had  sinned,  and  prone  himself  he  threw 
Before  the  other's  feet,  and  prayed  of  him 
Pardon  for  the  words  that  now  his  soul  did  rue. 

But  still  the  other  answered  as  before: 
"  Go,  in  the  Potter's  ear  thy  plaint  outpour, 
For  what  am  I!    His  hand  has  fashioned  me. 
And  I  in  humble  faith  that  hand  adore." 

Brethren,  do  we  not  often  too  forget 
Whose  hand  it  is  that  many  a  time  has  set 
A  radiant  soul  in  an  unlovely  form. 
A  fair  white  bird  caged  in  a  mouldering  net? 


64  JEWISH  LITERATURE 

Nay  more,  do  not  life's  times  and  chances,  sent 
By  the  great  Artificer  with  intent 
That  they  should  prove  a  blessing,  oft  appear 
To  us  a  burden  that  we  sore  lament? 

Ah!  soul,  poor  soul  of  man!  what  heavenly  fire 
Would  thrill  thy  depths  and  love  of  God  inspire, 
Could'st  thou  but  see  the  Master  hand  revealed. 
Majestic  move  "earth's  scheme  of  things  entire." 

It  cannot  be!     Unseen  he  guideth  us. 
But  yet  our  feeble  hands,  the  luminous 
Pure  lamp  of  faith  can  light  to  glorify 
The  narrow  path  that  he  has  traced  for  us. 

Finally,  there  are  the  Beast  Fables  of  the 
Talmud  and  the  Midrash.  Most  of  these 
were  borrowed  directly  or  indirectly  from 
India.  We  are  told  in  the  Talmud  that 
Rabbi  Meir  knew  three  hundred  Fox 
Fables,  and  that  with  his  death  (about  290 
C.  E.)  "  fabulists  ceased  to  be."  Very  few 
of  Meir's  fables  are  extant,  so  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  gather  whether  or  not  they  were 
original.  There  are  only  thirty  fables  in  the 
Talmud  and  the  Midrash,  and  of  these  sev- 
eral cannot  be  parallelled  in  other  litera- 
tures.     Some   of  the  Talmudic   fables  are 


THE  MIDRASH  AND  ITS  POETRY    65 

found  also  in  the  classical  and  the  earliest 
Indian  collections;  some  in  the  later  collec- 
tions; some  in  the  classics,  but  not  in  the 
Indian  lists;  some  in  India,  but  not  in  the 
Latin  and  Greek  authors.  Among  the  latter 
is  the  well-known  fable  of  the  Fox  and  the 
Fishes,  used  so  dramatically  by  Rabbi 
Akiba.  The  original  Talmudic  fables  are, 
according  to  Mr.  J.  Jacobs,  the  following: 
Chaff,  Strati',  and  Wheat,  who  dispute  for 
which  of  them  the  seed  has  been  sown : 
the  winnowing  fan  soon  decides;  The  Caged 
Bird,  who  is  envied  by  his  free  fellow;  The 
Wolf  and  tJic  two  Hounds,  who  have  quar- 
relled; the  wolf  seizes  one,  the  other  goes 
to  his  rival's  aid,  fearing  the  same  fate  him- 
self on  the  morrow,  unless  he  helps  the 
other  dog  to-day;  The  Wolf  at  the  Well, 
the  mouth  of  the  well  is  covered  with  a  net : 
"  If  I  go  down  into  the  well,"  says  the 
wolf,  "  I  shall  be  caught.  If  I  do  not  de- 
scend, I  shall  die  of  thirst  ";  The  Cock  and 
the  Bat,  who  sit  together  waiting  for  the 
5 


66  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

sunrise:  "I  wait  for  the  dawn,"  said  the 
cock,  "  for  the  light  is  my  signal;  but  as 
for  thee — the  light  is  thy  ruin";  and,  fin- 
ally, what  Mr.  Jacobs  calls  the  grim  beast- 
tale  of  the  Fox  as  Singer,  in  which  the 
beasts — invited  by  the  lion  to  a  feast,  and 
covered  by  him  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts 
— are  led  by  the  fox  in  a  chorus :  "  What 
has  happened  to  those  above  us,  will  hap- 
pen to  him  above,"  implying  that  their  host, 
too,  will  come  to  a  violent  death.  In  the 
context  the  fable  is  applied  to  Haman, 
whose  fate,  it  is  augured,  will  resemble  that 
of  the  two  officers  whose  guilt  Mordecai 
detected. 

Such  fables  are  used  in  the  Talmud  to 
point  religious  or  even  political  morals, 
very  much  as  the  parables  were.  The 
fable,  however,  took  a  lower  flight  than  the 
parable,  and  its  moral  was  based  on  expe- 
diency, rather  than  on  the  highest  ethical 
ideals.  The  importance  of  the  Talmudic 
fables  is  historical   more  than   literary   or 


THE  MIDRASH AND  ITS  POETRY    67 

religious.  Hebrew  fables  supply  one  of 
the  links  connecting  the  popular  literature 
of  the  East  with  that  of  the  West.  But 
they  hardly  belong  in  the  true  sense  to 
Jewish  literature.  Parables,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  an  essential  and  characteristic 
branch  of  that  literature. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

MlDRASH. 

Schiller-Szinessy. — Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  285. 
Graetz. — II,  p.  328  [331]  seq. 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  pp.  5  seq.,  36  seq. 
L.  N.  Dembitz. — Jezvish  Services  in  Synagogue  and 

Home  (Jewish   Publication  Society  of  America, 

1898),  p.  44. 

Fables. 

J.  Jacobs. — The  Fables  of  TEsop  (London,  i88o\  I, 

p.  no  seq. 
Read  also   Schechter,   Studies  in  Judaism,   p.   272 

[331]:  and  /.  Q.  R  (Kohler),  V,  p.  399:  VII,  p. 

581;  (Bacher)  IV,  p.  406;  (Davis)  VIII,  p.  529; 

(Abrahams)  I. p. 216;  II,  p.  172;  Chenery,  Legends 

from   the   Midrash    (Miscellany  of   the   Society  of 

Hebrew  Literature,  Vol.  II), 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Letters  of  the  Gaonim 

Representative  Gaonim: 

Achai,  Amram,  Zemach,  Saadiah,  Sherira,  Sam- 
uel, Hai. 

For  several  centuries  after  the  completion 
of  the  Talmud,  Babylonia  or  Persia  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  supremacy  in  Jewish 
learning.  The  great  teachers  in  the  Per- 
sian schools  followed  the  same  lines  as  their 
predecessors  in  the  Mishnah  and  the  Tal- 
mud. Their  name  was  changed  more  than 
their  character.  The  title  Gaon  ("  Excel- 
lence ")  was  applied  to  the  head  of  the 
school,  the  members  of  which  devoted 
themselves  mainly  to  the  study  and  inter- 
pretation of  the  older  literature.  They 
also  made  original  contributions  to  the 
store.  Of  their  extensive  works  but  little 
has  been   preserved.     What   has   survived 


THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  GAONIM     69 

proves  that  they  were  gifted  with  the  fac- 
ulty of  applying  old  precept  to  modern 
instance.  They  regulated  the  social  and 
religious  affairs  of  all  the  Jews  in  the  dias- 
pora. They  improved  educational  meth- 
ods, and  were  pioneers  in  the  populariza- 
tion of  learning.  By  a  large  collection  of 
Case  Law,  that  is,  decisions  in  particular 
cases,  they  brought  the  newer  Jewish  life 
into  moral  harmony  with  the  principles  for- 
mulated by  the  earlier  Rabbis.  The  Gaonim 
were  the  originators  or,  at  least,  the  ar- 
rangers of  parts  of  the  liturgy.  They  com- 
posed new  hymns  and  invocations,  fixed  the 
order  of  service,  and  established  in  full 
vigor  a  system  of  Minhag,  or  Custom, 
whose  power  became  more  and  more  pre- 
dominant, not  only  in  religious,  but  also  in 
social  and  commercial  affairs. 

The  literary  productions  of  the  Gaonic 
age  open  with  the  SJiccltoth  written  by 
Achai  in  the  year  760.  This,  the  first  inde- 
pendent book  composed  after  the  close  of 


JO  JEW  TISH  LITER  A  EL  'RE 

the  Talmud,  was  curiously  enough  com- 
piled in  Palestine,  whither  Achai  had  mi- 
grated from  Persia.  The  Sheeltoth  ("  In- 
quiries ")  contain  nearly  two  hundred 
homilies  on  the  Pentateuch.  In  the  year 
880  another  Gaon,  Amram  by  name,  pre- 
pared a  Siddur,  or  Prayer-Book,  which  in- 
cludes many  remarks  on  the  history  of  the 
liturgy  and  the  customs  connected  with  it. 
A  contemporary  of  Amram,  Zemach,  the 
son  of  Paltoi,  found  a  different  channel  for 
his  literary  energies.  He  compiled  an 
Aruch,  or  Talmudical  Lexicon.  Of  the 
most  active  of  the  Gaonim,  Saadiah,  more 
will  be  said  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  We 
will  now  pass  on  to  Sherira,  who  in  987 
wrote  his  famous  "  Letter,"  containing  a 
history  of  the  Jewish  Tradition,  a  work 
which  stamps  the  author  as  at  once  learned 
and  critical.  It  shows  that  the  Gaonim 
were  not  afraid  nor  incapable  of  facing  such 
problems  as  this:  Was  the  Mishnah  orally 
transmitted  to  the  Amoraim  (or  Rabbis  of 


THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  GAONIM     ;  i 

the  Talmud),  or  was  it  written  down  by  the 
compiler?  Sherira  accepted  the  former  al- 
ternative. The  latest  Gaonim  were  far  more 
productive  than  the  earlier.  Samuel,  the 
son  of  Chofni,  who  died  in  1034,  and  the 
last  of  the  Gaonim,  Hai,  who  flourished 
from  998  to  1038,  were  the  authors  of  many 
works  on  the  Talmud,  the  Bible,  and  other 
branches  of  Jewish  literature.  Hai  Gaon 
was  also  a  poet. 

The  language  used  by  the  Gaonim  was 
at  first  Hebrew  and  Aramaic,  and  the  latter 
remained  the  official  speech  of  the  Gaonate. 
In  course  of  time,  Arabic  replaced  the  Ara- 
mean  dialect,  and  became  the  lingua  franca 
of  the  Jews. 

The  formal  works  of  the  Gaonim,  with 
certain  obvious  exceptions,  were  not,  how- 
ever, the  writings  by  which  they  left  their 
mark  on  their  age.  The  most  original  and 
important  of  the  Gaonic  writings  were 
their  "Letters,"  or  "Answers"  (Teshu- 
both).     The  Gaonim,  as  heads  of  the  school 


72  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

in  the  Babylonian  cities  Sura  and  Pumbe- 
ditha,  enjoyed  far  more  than  local  author- 
ity. The  Jews  of  Persia  were  practically 
independent  of  external  control.  Their 
official  heads  were  the  Exilarchs,  who 
reigned  over  the  Jews  as  viceroys  of  the 
caliphs.  The  Gaonim  were  the  religious 
heads  of  an  emancipated  community.  The 
Exilarchs  possessed  a  princely  revenue, 
which  they  devoted  in  part  to  the  schools 
over  which  the  Gaonim  presided.  This 
position  of  authority,  added  to  the  world- 
wide repute  of  the  two  schools,  gave  the 
Gaonim  an  influence  which  extended  be- 
yond their  own  neighborhood.  From  all 
parts  of  the  Jewish  world  their  guidance 
was  sought  and  their  opinions  solicited  on 
a  vast  variety  of  subjects,  mainly,  but  not 
exclusively,  religious  and  literary.  Amid 
the  growing  complications  of  ritual  law,  a 
desire  was  felt  for  terse  prescriptions,  clear- 
cut  decisions,  and  rules  of  conduct.  The 
imperfections   of  study   outside  of  Persia, 


THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  GAONIM     73 

again,  made  it  essential  to  apply  to  the 
Gaonim  for  authoritative  expositions  of 
difficult  passages  in  the  Bible  and  the  Tal- 
mud. To  all  such  enquiries  the  Gaonim 
sent  responses  in  the  form  of  letters,  some- 
times addressed  to  individual  correspond- 
ents, sometimes  to  communities  or  groups 
of  communities.  These  Letters  and  other 
compilations  containing  Halachic  (or  prac- 
tical) decisions  were  afterwards  collected 
into  treatises,  such  as  the  "  Great  Rules  " 
(Halachoth  Gcdolotli),  originally  compiled  in 
the  eighth  century,  but  subsequently  re- 
edited.  Mostly,  however,  the  Letters  were 
left  in  loose  form,  and  were  collected  in 
much  later  times. 

The  Letters  of  the  Gaonim  have  little 
pretence  to  literary  form.  They  are  the 
earliest  specimens  of  what  became  a  very 
characteristic  branch  of  Jewish  literature. 
"  Questions  and  Answers "  (Shaaloth 
u-Tcshubotli)  abound  in  later  times  in  all 
Jewish  circles,  and  there  is  no  real  parallel 


74  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

to  them  in  any  other  literature.  More 
will  be  said  later  on  as  to  these  curious 
works.  So  far  as  the  Gaonic  period  is 
concerned,  the  characteristics  of  these 
thousands  of  letters  are  lucidity  of  thought 
and  terseness  of  expression.  The  Gaonim 
never  waste  a  word.  They  are  rarely  over- 
bearing in  manner,  but  mostly  use  a  tone 
which  is  persuasive  rather  than  disciplinary. 
The  Gaonim  were,  in  this  real  sense,  there- 
fore, princes  of  letter-writing.  Moreover, 
though  their  Letters  deal  almost  entirely 
with  contemporary  affairs,  they  now  con- 
stitute as  fresh  and  vivid  reading  as  when 
first  penned.  Subjected  to  the  severe  test 
of  time,  the  Letters  of  the  Gaonim  emerge 
triumphant. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gaonim. 

Graetz.— Ill,  4-8. 

Steinschneider—  Jewish  Literature,  p.  25. 


CHAPTER  VI 
The  Karaitic  Literature 

Anan,  Nahavendi,  Abul-Faraj,  Salman,  Sahal,  al- 
Bazir,  Hassan,  Japhet,  Kirkisani,  Judah  Hadassi, 
Isaac  Troki. 

In  the  very  heart  of  the  Gaonate,  the 
eighth  century  witnessed  a  religious  and 
literary  reaction  against  Rabbinism.  The 
opposition  to  the  Rabbinite  spirit  was  far 
older  than  this,  but  it  came  to  a  head  under 
Anan,  the  son  of  David,  the  founder  of 
Karaism.  Anan  had  been  an  unsuccessful 
candidate  for  the  dignity  of  Exilarch,  and 
thus  personal  motives  were  involved  in  his 
attack  on  the  Gaonim.  But  there  were 
other  reasons  for  the  revolt.  In  the  same 
century,  Islam,  like  Judaism,  was  threat- 
ened by  a  fierce  antagonism  between  the 
friends  and  the  foes  of  tradition.  In  Islam 
the  struggle  lay  between  the  Sunnites,  who 


j6  JEWISH  LITERATURE 


interpreted  Mohammedanism  in  accordance 
with  authorized  tradition,  and  the  Shiites, 
who  relied  exclusively  upon  the  Koran. 
Similarly,  in  Judaism,  the  Rabbinites 
obeyed  the  traditions  of  the  earlier  authori- 
ties, and  the  Karaites  (from  Kcra,  or  Mikra, 
i.  e.  "  Bible  ")  claimed  the  right  to  reject 
tradition  and  revert  to  the  Bible  as  the  ori- 
ginal source  of  inspiration.  Such  reactions 
against  tradition  are  recurrent  in  all  re- 
ligions. 

Karaism,  however,  was  not  a  true  reac- 
tion against  tradition.  It  replaced  an  old 
tradition  by  a  new  one;  it  substituted  a 
rigid,  unprogressive  authority  for  one  ca- 
pable of  growth  and  adaptation  to  chan- 
ging requirements.  In  the  end,  Karaism 
became  so  hedged  in  by  its  supposed  avoid- 
ance of  tradition  that  it  ceased  to  be  a  liv- 
ing force.  But  we  are  here  not  concerned 
with  the  religious  defects  of  Karaism.  Re- 
garded from  the  literary  side,  Karaism  pro- 
duced a  double  effect.    Karaism  itself  gave 


THE  KARA ITIC  LITERATURE         yj 

birth  to  an  original  and  splendid  litera- 
ture, and,  on  the  other  hand,  coming  as  it 
did  at  the  time  when  Arabic  science  and 
poetry  were  attaining  their  golden  zenith, 
Karaism  aroused  within  the  Rabbinite 
sphere  a  notable  energy,  which  resulted  in 
some  of  the  best  work  of  medieval  Jews. 

Among  the  most  famous  of  the  Karaite 
authors  was  Benjamin  Nahavendi,  who 
lived  at  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century, 
and  displayed  much  resolution  and  ability 
as  an  advocate  of  free-thought  in  religion. 
Nahavendi  not  only  wrote  commentaries 
on  the  Bible,  but  also  attempted  to  write 
a  philosophy  of  Judaism,  being  allied  to 
Philo  in  the  past  and  to  the  Arabic  writers 
in  his  own  time.  At  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century,  Abul-Faraj  Harun  made  a  great 
stride  forwards  as  an  expounder  of  the 
Bible  and  as  an  authority  on  Hebrew 
grammar. 

During  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries, 
several  Karaites  revealed  much  vigor  and 


78  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

ability  in  their  controversies  with  the 
Gaonim.  In  this  field  the  most  distin- 
guished Karaitic  writers  were  Salman,  the 
son  of  Yerucham  (885-960) ;  Sahal,  the  son 
of  Mazliach  (900-950);  Joseph  al-Bazir 
(flourished  910-930);  Hassan,  the  son  of 
Mashiach  (930);  and  Japhet,  the  son  of  Ali 
(950-990). 

Salman,  the  son  of  Yerucham,  was  an 
active  traveller;  born  in  Egypt,  he  went 
as  a  young  man  to  Jerusalem,  which 
he  made  his  head-quarters  for  several 
years,  though  he  paid  occasional  visits  to 
Babylonia  and  to  his  native  land.  These 
journeys  helped  to  unify  the  scattered  Ka- 
raite communities.  Besides  his  Biblical 
works,  Salman  composed  a  poetical  treatise 
against  the  Rabbinite  theories.  To  this 
book,  which  was  written  in  Hebrew,  Sal- 
man gave  the  title,  "  The  Wars  of  the 
Lord." 

Sahal,  the  son  of  Mazliach,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  a  native  of  the  Holy  Land,  and 


THE  KARAITIC  LITERATURE         79 

though  an  eager  polemical  writer  against 
the  Rabbinites,  he  bore  a  smaller  part  than 
Salman  in  the  practical  development  of 
Karaism.  His  "  Hebrew  Grammar " 
(Scfcv  Dikduk)  and  his  Lexicon  (Lcshon 
Limmudim)  were  very  popular.  Unlike 
the  work  of  other  Karaites,  Joseph  al- 
Bazir's  writings  were  philosophical,  and 
had  no  philological  value.  He  was  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Mohammedan  theological 
method  known  as  the  Kalam,  and  wrote 
mostly  in  Arabic.  Another  Karaite  of  the 
same  period,  Hassan,  the  son  of  Mashiach, 
was  the  one  who  impelled  Saadiah  to 
throw  off  all  reserves  and  enter  the  lists  as 
a  champion  of  Rabbinism.  Of  the  remain- 
ing Karaites  of  the  tenth  century,  the  fore- 
most was  Japhet,  the  son  of  Ali,  whose 
commentaries  on  the  Bible  represent  the 
highest  achievements  of  Karaism.  A  large 
Hebrew  dictionary  (Iggaron),  by  a  con- 
temporary of  Japhet  named  David,  the  son 
of  Abraham,  is  also  a  work  which  was  often 


8o  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

quoted.  Kirkisani,  also  a  tenth  century 
Karaite,  completed  in  the  year  937  a  trea- 
tise called,  "  The  Book  of  Lights  and  the 
Hieh  Beacons."  In  this  work  much  valu- 
able  information  is  supplied  as  to  the  his- 
tory of  Karaism.  Despite  his  natural  pre- 
judices in  favor  of  his  own  sect,  Kirkisani 
is  a  faithful  historian,  as  frank  regarding 
the  internal  dissensions  of  the  Karaites  as 
in  depicting  the  divergence  of  views 
among  the  Rabbinites.  Kirkisani's  work 
is  thus  of  the  greatest  importance  for  the 
history  of  Jewish  sects. 

Finally,  the  famous  Karaite  Judah  Ha- 
dassi  (1075-1160)  was  a  young  man  when 
his  native  Jerusalem  was  stormed  by  the 
Crusaders  in  1099.  A  wanderer  to  Con- 
stantinople, he  devoted  himself  to  science, 
Hebrew  philology,  and  Greek  literature. 
He  utilized  his  wide  knowledge  in  his 
great  work,  "  A  Cluster  of  Cyprus  Flow- 
ers "  (Eshkol  ha-Kopher),  which  was  com- 
pleted in  1 1 50.     It  is  written  in  a  series  of 


THE  KARA  ITIC  LITER  A  TURE         8 1 

rhymed  alphabetical  acrostics.  It  is  ency- 
clopedic in  range,  and  treats  critically,  not 
only  of  Judaism,  but  also  of  Christianity 
and  Islam. 

Karaitic  literature  was  produced  in  later 
centuries  also,  but  by  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century,  Karaism  had  exhausted  its  origi- 
nality and  fertility.  One  much  later  pro- 
duct of  Karaism,  however,  deserves  special 
mention.  Isaac  Troki  composed,  in  1593, 
a  work  entitled  "  The  Strengthening  of 
Faith "  (Chizzuk  Emunah),  in  which  the 
author  defended  Judaism  and  attacked 
Christianity.  It  was  a  lucid  book,  and  as  its 
arguments  were  popularly  arranged,  it  was 
very  much  read  and  used.  With  this  ex- 
ception, Karaism  produced  no  important 
work  after  the  twelfth  century. 

On  the  intellectual  side,  therefore,  Kara- 
ism was  a  powerful  though  ephemeral 
movement.  In  several  branches  of  science 
and  philology  the  Karaites  made  real  addi- 
tions   to    contemporary    knowledge.     But 


82  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

the  main  service  of  Karaism  was  indirect. 
The  Rabbinite  Jews,  who  represented  the 
mass  of  the  people,  had  been  on  the  way  to 
a  scientific  and  philosophical  development 
of  their  own  before  the  rise  of  Karaism. 
The-  necessity  of  fighting  Karaism  with  its 
own  weapons  gave  a  strong  impetus  to  the 
new  movement  in  Rabbinism,  and  some  of 
the  best  work  of  Saadiah  was  inspired  by 
Karaitic  opposition.  Before,  however,  we 
turn  to  the  career  of  Saadiah,  we  must  con- 
sider another  literary  movement,  which  co- 
incided in  date  with  the  rise  of  Karaism, 
but  was  entirely  independent  of  it. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Karaites. 

Graetz.— Ill,  5  (on  Troki.  ibid.,  IV.  18,  end.     M. 

Mocatta,  Faith  Strengthened,  London,  1851). 
Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  1 15  seq. 
W.  Bacher. — Qirqisani  the  Qaraite,  and  his  Work  on 

Jewish  Sects,  J.  Q.  R.,  VII,  p.  687. 
Jchnda  Hadassi's  Eshkol  Hakkofer,  J.   Q.  R., 

VIII.  p.  431. 
S.  Poznariski. — Karaite  Miscellanies,  J.  Q.  R.,  VIII, 

p.  681. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  New-Hebrew  Piyut 

Kalirian   and   Spanish    Piyutim    (Poems). — Jannai. — ■ 
Kalir. 

Arabic  to  a  large  extent  replaced  He- 
brew as  the  literary  language  of  the  Jews, 
but  Hebrew  continued  the  language  of 
prayer.  As  a  mere  literary  form,  Rabbinic 
Hebrew  retained  a  strong  hold  on  the  Jews; 
as  a  vehicle  of  devotional  feeling,  He- 
brew reigned  supreme.  The  earliest  ad- 
ditions to  the  fixed  liturgy  of  the  Syna- 
gogue were  prose-poems.  They  were 
"  Occasional  Prayers  "  composed  by  the 
precentor  for  a  special  occasion.  An  ap- 
propriate melody  or  chant  accompanied 
the  new  hymn,  and  if  the  poem  and  melody 
met  the  popular  taste,  both  won  a  perma- 
nent place  in  the  local  liturgy.  The  hymns 
were  unrhymed  and  unmetrical,  but  they 
may  have  been  written  in  the  form  of  alpha- 


84  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

betical  acrostics,  such  as  appear  in  the 
119th  and  a  few  other  Psalms. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  metre  and 
rhyme  grew  naturally  from  the  Biblical 
Hebrew.  Rhyme  is  unknown  in  the  Bible, 
but  the  assonances  which  occur  may 
easily  run  into  rhymes.  Musical  form  is 
certainly  present  in  Hebrew  poetry,  though 
strict  metres  are  foreign  to  it.  As  an  his- 
torical fact,  however,  Hebrew  rhymed 
verse  can  be  traced  on  the  one  side  to 
Syriac,  on  the  other  to  Arabic  influences. 
In  the  latter  case  the  influence  was  exter- 
nal only.  Early  Arabic  poetry  treats  of 
war  and  love,  but  the  first  Jewish  rhymsters 
sang  of  peace  and  duty.  The  Arab  wrote 
for  the  camp,  the  Jew  for  the  synagogue. 

Two  distinct  types  of  verse,  or  Piyut 
(i.  e.  Poetry),  arose  within  the  Jewish  cir- 
cle :  the  ingenious  and  the  natural.  In  the 
former,  the  style  is  rugged  and  involved; 
a  profusion  of  rare  words  and  obscure  allu- 
sions meets  and  troubles  the  reader;  the 


THE  NEW-HEBREW  PI YUT  85 

verse  lacks  all  beauty  of  form,  yet  is  alive 
with  intense  spiritual  force.  This  style  is 
often  termed  Kalirian,  from  the  name  of 
its  best  representative.  The  Kalirian  Piyut 
in  the  end  spread  chiefly  to  France,  Eng- 
land, Burgundy,  Lorraine,  Germany,  Bo- 
hemia, Poland,  Italy,  Greece,  and  Pales- 
tine. The  other  type  of  new-Hebrew 
Piyut,  the  Spanish,  rises  to  higher  beauties 
of  form.  It  is  not  free  from  the  Kalirian 
faults,  but  it  has  them  in  a  less  pronounced 
degree.  The  Spanish  Piyut,  in  the  hands 
of  one  or  two  masters,  becomes  true 
poetry,  poetry  in  form  as  well  as  in  idea. 
The  Spanish  style  prevailed  in  Castile,  An- 
dalusia, Catalonia,  Aragon,  Majorca,  Pro- 
vence, and  in  countries  where  Arabic  in- 
fluence was  strongest. 

Kalir  was  the  most  popular  writer  of  the 
earlier  type  of  new-Hebrew  poetry,  but  he 
was  not  its  creator.  An  older  contempo- 
rary of  his,  from  whom  he  derived  both  his 
diction  and  his  method  of  treating  poetic 


86  JEWISH  LITERATURE 

subjects,  was  Jannai.  Though  we  know 
that  Jannai  was  a  prolific  writer,  only  seven 
short  examples  of  his  verse  remain.  One 
of  these  is  the  popular  hymn,  "  It  was  at 
Midnight,"  which  is  still  recited  by  "  Ger- 
man "  Jews  at  the  home-service  on  the  first 
eve  of  Passover.  It  recounts  in  order  the 
deliverances  which,  according  to  the  Mid- 
rash,  were  wrought  for  Israel  at  midnight, 
from  Abraham's  victory  over  the  four 
kings  to  the  wakefulness  of  Ahasuerus,  the 
crisis  of  the  Book  of  Esther.  In  the  last 
stanza  is  a  prayer  for  future  redemption: 

Bring  nigh  the  hour  which  is  nor  day  nor  night! 
Most  High!   make  known  that  thine  is  day,  and 

thine  the  night! 
Make  clear  as  day  the  darkness  of  our  night! 
As  of  old  at  midnight. 

This  form  of  versification,  with  a  run- 
ning refrain,  afterwards  became  very  popu- 
lar with  Jewish  poets.  Jannai  also  dis- 
plays the  harsh  alliterations,  the  learned 
allusions  to  Midrash  and  Talmud,  which 
were  carried  to  extremes  by  Kalir. 


THE  NEW-HEBREW  PIYUT  87 


It  is  strange  that  it  is  impossible  to  fix 
with  any  certainty  the  date  at  which  Jannai 
and  Kalir  lived.  Kalir  may  belong  to  the 
eighth  or  to  the  ninth  century.  It  is 
equally  hard  to  decide  as  to  his  birth-place. 
Rival  theories  hold  that  he  was  born  in 
Palestine  and  in  Sardinia.  His  name  has 
been  derived  from  Cagliari  in  Sardinia  and 
from  the  Latin  calyrum,  a  cake.  Honey- 
cakes  were  given  to  Jewish  children  on 
their  first  introduction  to  school,  and  the 
nickname  "  Kaliri,"  or  "  Boy  of  the  Cake," 
may  have  arisen  from  his  youthful  pre- 
cocity.    But  all  this  is  mere  guess-work. 

It  is  more  certain  that  the  poet  was  also 
the  singer  of  his  own  verses.  His  earliest 
audiences  were  probably  scholars,  and  this 
may  have  tempted  Kalir  to  indulge  in  the 
recondite  learning  which  vitiates  his 
hymns.  At  his  worst,  Kalir  is  very  bad 
indeed;  his  style  is  then  a  jumble  of  words, 
his  meaning  obscure  and  even  unintelligi- 
ble.    He  uses  a  maze  of  alphabetical  acros- 


88  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

tics,  line  by  line  he  wreathes  into  his  com- 
positions the  words  of  successive  Bible 
texts.  Yet  even  at  his  worst  he  is  ingeni- 
ous and  vigorous.  Such  phrases  as  "  to 
hawk  it  as  a  hawk  upon  a  sparrow  "  are  at 
least  bold  and  effective.  Ibn  Ezra  later  on 
lamented  that  Kalir  had  treated  the  He- 
brew language  like  an  unfenced  city.  But 
if  the  poet  too  freely  admitted  strange  and 
ugly  words,  he  added  many  of  considerable 
force  and  beauty.  Kalir  rightly  felt  that  if 
Hebrew  was  to  remain  a  living  tongue,  it 
was  absurd  to  restrict  the  language  to  the 
vocabulary  of  the  Bible.  Hence  he  in- 
vented many  new  verbs  from  nouns. 

But  his  inventiveness  was  less  marked 
than  his  learning.  "  With  the  permission 
of  God,  I  will  speak  in  riddles,"  says  Kalir 
in  opening  the  prayer  for  dew.  The  rid- 
dles are  mainly  clever  allusions  to  the  Mid- 
rash.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  these 
allusions  are  often  tasteless  and  obscure. 
But  they  are  more  often  beautiful  and  in- 


THE  NEW-HEBREW  PIYUT  89 


spiring.  No  Hebrew  poet  in  the  Middle 
Ages  was  illiterate,  for  the  poetic  instinct 
was  fed  on  the  fancies  of  the  Midrash. 
This  accounts  for  their  lack  of  freshness 
and  originality.  The  poet  was  a  scholar, 
and  he  was  also  a  teacher.  Much  of  Kalir's 
work  is  didactic;  it  teaches  the  traditional 
explanations  of  the  Bible  and  the  ritual 
laws  for  Sabbath  and  festivals;  it  provides 
a  convenient  summary  of  the  six  hundred 
and  thirteen  precepts  into  which  the  duties 
of  the  Law  were  arranged.  But  over  and 
above  all  this  the  genius  of  Kalir  soars  to 
poetic  heights.  So  much  has  been  said  of 
Kalir's  obscurity  that  one  quotation  must 
in  fairness  be  given  of  Kalir  at  his  simplest 
and  best.  The  passage  is  taken  from  a 
hymn  sung  on  the  seventh  day  of  Taber- 
nacles, the  day  of  the  great  Hosannas : 

O  give  ear  to  the  prayer  of  those  who  long  for  thy 

salvation, 
Rejoicing  before  thee  with  the  willows  of  the  brook, 

And  save  us  now! 


90  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

O  redeem  the  vineyard  which  thou  hast  planted, 
And  sweep  thence  the   strangers,  and  save  us  now! 
O  regard  the  covenant  which  thou  hast  sealed  in  us! 
O  remember  for  us  the  father  who  knew  thee, 
To  whom  thou,  too,  didst  make  known  thy  love, 

And  save  us  now! 

O  deal  wondrously  with  the  pure  in  heart 

That  thy  providence  may  be  seen  of  men,  and  save 

us  now! 
O  lift  up  Zion's  sunken  gates  from  the  earth, 
Exalt  the  spot  to  which  our  eyes  all  turn. 

And  save  us  now! 

Such   hymns  won   for   Kalir  popularity, 
which,  however,  is  now  much  on  the  wane. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kalir  and  Jannai. 
Graetz. — III,  4. 

Translations  of  Poems  in  Editions  of  the  Prayer- 
Book,  and  /.  Q.  R.,  VII,  p.  460;  IX,  p.  291. 
L.  N.  Dembitz. — Jewish  Services,  p.  222  seq. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Saadiah  of  Fayum 

Translation  of  the   Bible  into  Arabic.— Foundation 
of  a  Jewish  Philosophy  of  Religion. 

Saadiah  was  born  in  Fayum  (Egypt)  in 
892,  and  died  in  Sura  in  942.  He  was  the 
founder  of  a  new  literature.  In  width  of 
culture  he  excelled  all  his  Jewish  contem- 
poraries. To  him  Judaism  was  synonymous 
with  culture,  and  therefore  he  endeavored 
to  absorb  for  Judaism  all  the  literary  and 
scientific  tendencies  of  his  day.  He  created, 
in  the  first  place,  a  Jewish  philosophy,  that 
is  to  say,  he  applied  to  Jewish  theology 
the  philosophical  methods  of  the  Arabs. 
Again,  though  he  vigorously  opposed  Ka- 
raism,  he  adopted  its  love  of  philology, 
and  by  his  translation   of  the   Bible   into 


92  JEU TISH  L I TERA  Tl TR E 

Arabic   helped   forward   a   sounder   under- 
standing of  the  Scriptures. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-six  Saadiah  received 
a  remarkable  honor;  he  was  summoned  to 
Sura  to  fill  the  post  of  Gaon.  This  elec- 
tion of  a  foreigner  as  head  of  the  Baby- 
lonian school  proves,  first,  that  Babylonia 
had  lost  its  old  supremacy,  and,  secondly, 
that  Saadiah  had  already  won  world-wide 
fame.  Yet  the  great  work  on  which  his 
reputation  now  rests  was  not  then  written. 
Saadiah's  notoriety  was  due  to  his  suc- 
cessful championship  of  Rabbinism  against 
the  Karaites.  His  determination,  his  learn- 
ing, his  originality,  were  all  discernible  in 
his  early  treatises  against  Anan  and  his  fol- 
lowers. The  Rabbinites  had  previously 
opposed  Karaism  in  a  guerilla  warfare. 
Saadiah  came  into  the  open,  and  met  and 
vanquished  the  foe  in  pitched  battles.  But 
he  did  more  than  defeat  the  invader,  he 
strengthened  the  home  defences.  Saad- 
iah's polemical  works  have  always  a  posi- 


SAADIAH  OF  FA  YUM  93 

tive  as  well  as  a  negative  value.  He  wished 
to  prove  Karaism  wrong,  but  he  also  tried 
to  show  that  Rabbinism  was  right. 

As  a  champion  of  Rabbinism,  then,  Saad- 
iah  was  called  to  Sura.  But  he  had  an- 
other claim  to  distinction.  The  Karaites 
founded  their  position  on  the  Bible.  Saad- 
iah  resolved  that  the  appeal  to  the  Bible 
should  not  be  restricted  to  scholars.  He 
translated  the  Scriptures  into  Arabic,  and 
added  notes.  Saadiah's  qualifications  for 
the  task  were  his  knowledge  of  Hebrew, 
his  fine  critical  sense,  and  his  enlightened 
attitude  towards  the  Midrash.  As  to  the 
first  qualification,  it  is  said  that  at  the 
age  of  eleven  he  had  begun  a  Hebrew 
rhyming  dictionary  for  the  use  of  poets. 
He  himself  added  several  hymns  to  the 
liturgy.  In  these  Saadiah's  poetical  range 
is  very  varied.  Sometimes  his  style  is  as 
pure  and  simple  as  the  most  classical 
poems  of  the  Spanish  school.  At  other 
times,    his   verses   have   all    the   intricacy, 


94  JEWISH  LITERATURE 

harshness,  and  artificiality  of  Kalir's.  Per- 
haps his  mastery  of  Hebrew  is  best  seen  in 
his  "  Book  of  the  Exiled  "  (Sefer  ha-Galui), 
compiled  in  Biblical  Hebrew,  divided  into 
verses,  and  provided  with  accents.  As  the 
title  indicates,  this  book  was  written  during 
Saadiah's  exile  from  Sura. 

Saadiah's  Arabic  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures won  such  favor  that  it  was  read  pub- 
licly in  the  synagogues.  Of  old  the  Tar- 
erum,  or  Aramaic  version,  had  been  read  in 
public  worship  together  with  the  original 
Hebrew.  Now,  however,  the  Arabic  be- 
gan to  replace  the  Targum.  Saadiah's  ver- 
sion well  deserved  its  honor. 

Saadiah  brought  a  hornet's  nest  about 
his  head  by  his  renewed  attacks  on  Kara- 
ism,  contained  in  his  commentary  to  Gen- 
esis. But  the  call  to  Sura  turned  Saadiah's 
thoughts  in  another  direction.  He  found 
the  famous  college  in  decay.  The  Exil- 
archs,  the  nominal  heads  of  the  whole  of 
the  Babylonian  Jews,  were  often  unworthy 


SAADIAH  OF  FA  YUM  95 

of  their  position,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
Saadiah  came  into  conflict  with  the  Exil- 
arch.  The  struggle  ended  in  the  Gaon's  ex- 
ile from  Sura.  During  his  years  of  banish- 
ment, he  produced  his  greatest  works.  He 
arranged  a  prayer-book,  wrote  Talmudical 
essays,  compiled  rules  for  the  calendar,  ex- 
amined the  Massoretic  works  of  various 
authors,  and,  indeed,  produced  a  vast  array 
of  books,  all  of  them  influential  and  meri- 
torious. But  his  most  memorable  writings 
were  his  "  Commentary  on  the  Book  of 
Creation  "  (Sefer  Yctsirah)  and  his  master- 
piece, "  Faith  and  Philosophy  "  (Emunoth 
ve-Deoth). 

This  treatise,  finished  in  the  year  934, 
was  the  first  systematic  attempt  to  bring 
revealed  religion  into  harmony  with  Greek 
philosophy.  Saadiah  was  thus  the  fore- 
runner, not  only  of  Maimonides,  but  also 
of  the  Christian  school-men.  No  Jew,  said 
Saadiah,  should  discard  the  Bible,  and 
form  his  opinions  solely  by  his  own  reason- 


96  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

ing.  But  he  might  safely  endeavor  to 
prove,  independently  of  revelation,  the 
truths  which  revelation  had  given.  Faith, 
said  Saadiah  again,  is  the  soul's  absorption 
of  the  essence  of  a  truth,  which  thus  be- 
comes part  of  itself,  and  will  be  the  motive 
of  conduct  whenever  the  occasion  arises. 
Thus  Saadiah  identified  reason  with  faith. 
He  ridiculed  the  fear  that  philosophy  leads 
to  scepticism.  You  might  as  well,  he  ar- 
gued, identify  astronomy  with  superstition, 
because  some  deluded  people  believe  that 
an  eclipse  of  the  moon  is  caused  by  a 
dragon's  making  a  meal  of  it. 

For  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  Saadiah 
was  reinstated  in  the  Gaonate  at  Sura. 
The  school  enjoyed  a  new  lease  of  fame 
under  the  brilliant  direction  of  the  author 
of  the  great  work  just  described.  After 
his  death  the  inevitable  decay  made  itself 
felt.  Under  the  Moorish  caliphs,  Spain 
had  become  a  centre  of  Arabic  science,  art, 
and  poetry.     In  the  tenth  century,  Cordova 


SAA  DIA  H  OF  FA\  7  TM  97 

attained  fame  similar  to  that  which  Athens 
and  Alexandria  had  once  reached.  In  Moor- 
ish Spain,  there  was  room  both  for  earnest 
piety  and  the  sensuous  delights  of  music 
and  art;  and  the  keen  exercise  of  the  intel- 
lect in  science  or  philosophy  did  not  debar 
the  possession  of  practical  statesmanship 
and  skill  in  affairs.  In  the  service  of  the 
caliphs  were  politicians  who  were  also  doc- 
tors, poets,  philosophers,  men  of  science. 
Possession  of  culture  was,  indeed,  a  sure 
credential  for  employment  by  the  state. 
It  was  to  Moorish  Spain  that  the  centre 
of  Judaism  shifted  after  the  death  of  Saad- 
iah.  It  was  in  Spain  that  the  finest  fruit 
of  Jewish  literature  in  the  post-Biblical 
period  grew.  Here  the  Jewish  genius  ex- 
panded beneath  the  sunshine  of  Moorish 
culture.  To  Moses,  the  son  of  Chanoch,  an 
envoy  from  Babylonia,  belongs  the  honor 
of  founding  a  new  school  in  Cordova.  In 
this  he  had  the  support  of  the  scholar- 
statesman  Chasdai,  the  first  of  a  long  line 


98  J  FA  VISH  LITER  A  TURE 

of  medieval  Jews  who  earned  double  fame, 
as  servants  of  their  country  and  as  servants 
of  their  own  religion.  To  Chasdai  we 
must  now  turn. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Saadiah. 

Graetz.— Ill,  7- 

Schiller-Szinessy. — Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XXI,  p.  120. 

M.  Friedlander. — Life  and  Works  of  Saadia,  J.  Q. 

R.,  Vol.  V,  p.  177. 
Saadiah's  Philosophy  (Owen),  /.  Q.  R.,  Vol.  Ill, 

p.  192. 
Grammar  and  Polemics  (Rosin),  /.  Q.  R.,  Vol.  VI, 

p.  475;  (S.  Poznahski)  ibid.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  238. 
E.   H.    Lindo. — History  of  the  Jeivs  of  Spain  and 

Portugal  (London,  li 


CHAPTER  IX 

Dawn  of  the  Spanish  Era 

Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut. — Menachem  and  Dunash, 
Chayuj  and  Janach. — Samuel  the  Nagid. 

If  but  a  small  part  of  what  Hebrew  poets 
sang  concerning  Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut  be 
literal  fact,  he  was  indeed  a  wonderful 
figure.  His  career  set  the  Jewish  imagina- 
tion aflame.  Charizi,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, wrote  of  Chasdai  thus: 

In  southern  Spain,  in  days  gone  by, 
The  sun  of  fame  rose  up  on  high: 
Chasdai  it  was,  the  prince,  who  gave 
Rich  gifts  to  all  who  came  to  crave. 
Science  rolled  forth  her  mighty  waves, 
Laden  with  gems  from  hidden  caves, 
Till  wisdom  like  an  island  stood, 
The  precious  outcome  of  the  flood. 
Here  thirsting  spirits  still  might  find 
Knowledge  to  satisfy  the  mind. 
Their  prince's  favor  made  new  day 
For  those  who  slept  their  life  away. 
They  who  had  lived  so  long  apart 
Confessed  a  bond,  a  common  heart, 
From  Christendom  and  Moorish  lands, 


I OO  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

From  East,  from  West,  from  distant  strands. 

His  favor  compassed  each  and  all. 

Girt  by  the  shelter  of  his  grace. 

Lit  by  the  glory  of  his  face, 

Knowledge  held  their  heart  in  thrall. 

He  showed  the  source  of  wisdom  and  her  springs. 

And  God's  anointment  made  them  more  than  kings. 

His  goodness  made  the  dumb  to  speak  his  name, 

Yea,  stubborn  hearts  were  not  unyielding  long; 

And  bards  the  starry  splendor  of  his  fame 

Mirrored  in  lucent  current  of  their  song. 

This  Chasdai,  the  son  of  Isaac,  of  the 
family  of  Shaprut  (915-970),  was  a  physi- 
cian and  a  statesman.  He  was  something  of 
a  poet  and  linguist  besides;  not  much  of 
a  poet,  for  his  eulogists  say  little  of  his 
verses;  and  not  much  of  a  linguist,  for  he 
employed  others  (among  them  Menachem, 
the  son  of  Zaruk,  the  grammarian)  to  write 
his  Hebrew  letters  for  him.  But  he  was 
enough  of  a  scholar  to  appreciate  learning 
in  others,  and  as  a  patron  of  literature  he 
placed  himself  in  the  front  of  the  new  Jew- 
ish development  in  Spain.  From  Babylonia 
he  was  hailed  as  the  head  of  the  school  in 
Cordova.     At  his  palatial  abode  was  gath- 


DA  WN  OF  THE  SPANISH  ERA       IOI 

ered  all  that  was  best  in  Spanish  Judaism. 
He  was  the  patron  of  the  two  great  gram- 
marians of  the  day,  Menachem,  the  son  of 
Zarnk,  and  his  rival  and  critic,  Dunash, 
the  son  of  Labrat.  These  grammarians 
fought  out  their  literary  disputes  in  verses 
dedicated  to  Chasdai.  Witty  satires  were 
written  by  the  friends  of  both  sides. 
Sparkling  epigrams  were  exchanged  in  the 
rose-garden  of  Chasdai's  house,  and  were 
read  at  the  evening  assemblies  of  poets, 
merchants,  and  courtiers.  It  was  Chasdai 
who  brought  both  the  rivals  to  Cordova, 
Menachem  from  Tortosa  and  Dunash  from 
Fez.  Menachem  was  the  founder  of  scien- 
tific Hebrew  grammar;  Dunash,  more  live- 
ly but  less  scholarly,  initiated  the  art 
of  writing  metrical  Hebrew  verses.  The 
successors  of  these  grammarians,  Judah 
Chayuj  and  Abulwalid  Merwan  Ibn  Janach 
(eleventh  century),  completed  what  Mena- 
chem and  Dunash  had  begun,  and  placed 
Hebrew  philology  on  a  firm  scientific  basis. 


1 02  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


Thus,  with  Chasdai  a  new  literary  era 
dawned  for  Judaism.  His  person,  his 
glorious  position,  his  liberal  encourage- 
ment of  poetry  and  learning,  opened  the 
sealed-up  lips  of  the  Hebrew  muse.  As  a 
contemporary  said  of  Chasdai : 

The  grinding  yoke  from  Israel's  neck  he  tore, 
Deep  in  his  soul  his  people's  love  he  bore. 
The  sword  that  thirsted  for  their  blood  he  brake, 
And  cold  oppression  melted  for  his  sake. 
For  God  sent  Chasdai  Israel's  heart  to  move 
Once  more  to  trust,  once  more  his  God  to  love. 

Chasdai  did  not  confine  his  efforts  on 
behalf  of  his  brethren  to  the  Jews  of  Spain. 
Ambition  and  sympathy  made  him  extend 
his  affection  to  the  Jews  of  all  the  world. 
He  interviewed  the  captains  of  ships,  he 
conversed  with  foreign  envoys  concerning 
the  Jews  of  other  lands.  He  entered  into 
a  correspondence  with  the  Chazars,  Jews 
by  adoption,  not  by  race.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  influence  of  Chasdai  sur- 
vived him.     Under  the  next  two  caliphs, 


DA  WN  OF  THE  SPANISH  ERA       103 

Cordova  continued  the  centre  of  a  cultured 
life  and  literature.  Thither  flocked,  not 
only  the  Chazars,  but  also  the  descendants 
of  the  Babylonian  Princes  of  the  Captivity 
and  other  men  of  note. 

Half  a  century  after  Chasdai's  death, 
Samuel  Ibn  Nagdela  (993-1055)  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  Jewish  community  in  Gra- 
nada. Samuel,  called  the  Nagid,  or  Prince, 
started  life  as  a  druggist  in  Malaga.  His 
fine  handwriting  came  to  the  notice  of  the 
vizier,  and  Samuel  was  appointed  private 
secretary.  His  talents  as  a  statesman  were 
soon  discovered,  and  he  was  made  first 
minister  to  Habus,  the  ruler  of  Granada. 
Once  a  Moor  insulted  him,  and  King 
Habus  advised  his  favorite  to  cut  out  the 
offender's  tongue.  But  Samuel  treated  his 
reviler  with  much  kindness,  and  one  day 
King  Habus  and  Samuel  passed  the  same 
Moor.  "  He  blesses  you  now,"  said  the 
astonished  king,  "  whom  he  used  to  curse." 
"  Ah !  "    replied    Samuel,    "  I    did    as   y<  >u 


1 04  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


advised.     I  cut  out  his  angry  tongue,  and 
put  a  kind  one  there  instead." 

Samuel  was  not  only  vizier,  he  was  also 
Rabbi.     His  knowledge  of  the  Rabbinical 
literature  was   profound,   and  his   "  Intro- 
duction to  the  Talmud  "  (Mcbo  ha-Talmud) 
is  still  a  standard  work.   He  expended  much 
labor  and  money  on  collecting  the  works  of 
the  Gaonim.   The  versatility  of  Samuel  was 
extraordinary.     From  the  palace  he  would 
go  to  the  school;  after  inditing  a  despatch 
he  would  compose  a  hymn;  he  would  leave 
a  reception  of  foreign  diplomatists  to  dis- 
cuss intricate  points  of  Rabbinical  law  or 
examine    the    latest    scientific    discoveries. 
As  a  poet,  his  muse  was  that  of  the  town, 
not  of  the  field.     But  though  he  wrote  no 
nature   poems,   he   resembled    the   ancient 
Hebrew  Psalmists  in  one  striking  feature. 
He  sang  new  songs  of  thanksgiving  over 
his  own  triumphs,  uttered  laments  on  his 
own  woes,  but  there  is  an  impersonal  note 
in  these  sonsrs  as  there  is  in  the   similar 


DAWN  OF  THE  SPANISH  ERA      105 

lyrics  of  the  Psalter.  His  individual 
triumphs  and  woes  were  merged  in  the 
triumphs  and  woes  of  his  people.  In  all, 
Samuel  added  some  thirty  new  hymns  to 
the  liturgy  of  the  Synagogue.  But  his 
muse  was  as  versatile  as  his  mind.  Samuel 
also  wrote  some  stirring  wine  songs.  The 
marvellous  range  of  his  powers  helped  him 
to  complete  what  Chasdai  had  begun.  The 
centre  of  Judaism  became  more  firmly 
fixed  than  ever  in  Spain.  When  Samuel 
the  Nagid  died  in  1055,  the  golden  age  of 
Spanish  literature  was  in  sight.  Above 
the  horizon  were  rising  in  a  glorious  con- 
stellation, Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol,  the  Ibn 
Ezras,  and  Jehuda  Halevi. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Chasdai. 
Graetz. — III,  p.  215  [220]. 

DUNASH  AND   MENACIIEM. 

Graetz. — III,  p.  223  [228]. 

Janach. 

Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  737. 


1 06  JE  U  TSH  LITER  A  TURE 

Chayuj. 
M.  Jastrow,  Jr. — The  Weak  and  Gcminative  J'erbs  in 
Hebrew  by  Hayyug  (Leyden,  1897). 

Hebrew  Philology. 
Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  131. 

Chazars. 

Letter  of  Chasdai  to  Chazars  (Engl,  transl.  by  Zed- 
ner.  Miscellany  of  the  Society  of  Hebrew  Litera- 
ture, Vol.  I). 

Graetz. — III,  p.  138  [140]. 

Samuel  Ibn  Nagdela. 
Graetz. — III,  p.  254  [260]. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Spanish-Jewish  Poets  (I) 

Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol. — "The  Royal  Crown." — Moses 
Ibn  Ezra.— Abraham  Ibn  Ezra.— The  Biblical 
Commentaries  of  Ibn  Ezra  and  the  Kimchis. 

"  In  the  days  of  Chasdai,"  says  Charizi, 
"  the  Hebrew  poets  began  to  sing."  We 
have  seen  that  the  new-Hebrew  poetry  was 
older  than  Chasdai,  but  Charizi's  assertion 
is  true.  The  Hebrew  poets  of  Spain  are 
melodious,  and  Kalir  is  only  ingenious. 
Again,  it  was  in  Spain  that  Hebrew  was 
first  used  for  secular  poetry,  for  love  songs 
and  ballads,  for  praises  of  nature,  for  the 
expression  of  all  human  feelings.  In  most 
of  this  the  poets  found  their  models  in  the 
Bible.  When  Jehuda  Halevi  sang  in  He- 
brew of  love,  he  echoed  the  "  Song  of 
Songs."  When  Moses  Ibn  Ezra  wrote 
penitential  hymns,   or   Ibn   Gebirol  divine 


1 08  JEl  VISH  LITER  A  TURE 


meditations,  the  Psalms  were  ever  before 
them  as  an  inspiration.  The  poets  often 
devoted  all  their  ambition  to  finding  apt 
quotations  from  the  sacred  text.  But  in 
one  respect  they  failed  to  imitate  the  Bible, 
and  this  failure  seriously  cramped  their 
genius.  The  poetry  of  the  Bible  depends 
for  its  beauty  partly  on  its  form.  This 
form  is  what  is  called  parallelism  of  line. 
The  fine  musical  effect  produced  by  repeat- 
ing as  an  echo  the  idea  already  expressed 
is  lost  in  the  poetry  of  the  Spanish  Jews. 

Thus  Spanish-Jewish  poetry  suffers,  on 
the  one  side,  because  it  is  an  imitation  of 
the  Bible,  and  therefore  lacks  originality, 
and  on  the  other  side  it  suffers,  because  it 
does  not  sufficiently  imitate  the  Biblical 
style.  In  spite  of  these  limitations,  it  is 
real  poetry.  In  the  Psalms  there  is  deep 
sympathy  for  the  wilder  and  more  awful 
phenomena  of  nature.  In  the  poetry  of 
the  Spanish  Jews,  nature  is  loved  in  her 
gentler     moods.      One     of     these     poets, 


THE  SPA  NTSH-JE  WISH  FOE  TS       1 09 

Nahum,  wrote  prettily  of  his  garden;  an- 
other, Ibn  Gebirol,  sang  of  autumn;  Jehuda 
Halevi,  of  spring.  Again,  in  their  love 
songs  there  is  freshness.  There  is  in  them 
a  quaint  blending  of  piety  and  love;  they 
do  not  say  that  beauty  is  a  vain  thing,  but 
they  make  beauty  the  mark  of  a  God-fear- 
ing character.  There  is  an  un-Biblical 
lightness  of  touch,  too,  in  their  songs  of  life 
in  the  city,  their  epigrams,  their  society 
verses.  And  in  those  of  their  verses  which 
most  resemble  the  Bible,  the  passionate 
odes  to  Zion  by  Jehuda  Halevi,  the  sub- 
lime meditations  of  Ibn  Gebirol,  the  peni- 
tential prayers  of  Moses  Ibn  Ezra,  though 
the  echoes  of  the  Bible  are  distinct  enough, 
yet  amid  the  echoes  there  sounds  now  and 
again  the  fresh,  clear  voice  of  the  medieval 
poet. 

Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol  was  born  in  Mal- 
aga in  1021,  and  died  in  1070.  His  early 
life  was  unhappy,  and  his  poetry  is  tinged 
with    melancholy.      But    his    unhappiness 


HO  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

only  gave  him  a  fuller  hope  in  God.  As 
he  writes  in  his  greatest  poem,  he  would 
fly  from  God  to  God : 

From  thee  to  thee  I  fly  to  win 
A  place  of  refuge,  and  within 
Thy  shadow  from  thy  anger  hide, 
Until  thy  wrath  be  turned  aside. 
Unto  thy  mercy  I  will  cling. 
Until  thou  hearken  pitying; 
Nor  will  I  quit  my  hold  of  thee, 
Until  thy  blessing  light  on  me. 

These  lines  occur  in  Gebirol's  "  Royal 
Crown "  (Kether  Malchuth),  a  glorious 
series  of  poems  on  God  and  the  world.  In 
this,  the  poet  pours  forth  his  heart  even 
more  unreservedly  than  in  his  philosoph- 
ical treatise,  "  The  Fountain  of  Life,"  or  in 
his  ethical  work,  "  The  Ennoblement  of 
Character,"  or  in  his  compilation  from  the 
wisdom  of  the  past,  "  The  Choice  of 
Pearls  "  (if,  indeed,  this  last  book  be  his). 
The  "  Royal  Crown  "  is  a  diadem  of  praises 
of  the  greatness  of  God,  praises  to  utter 
which  make  man,  with  all  his  insignifi- 
cance, great. 


THE  SPANISH-JEWISH  POETS       I  I  I 

Wondrous  are  thy  works,  O  Lord  of  hosts. 
And  their  greatness  holds  my  soul  in  thrall. 
Thine  the  glory  is,  the  power  divine, 
Thine  the  majesty,  the  kingdom  thine, 
Thou  supreme,  exalted  over  all. 

Thou  art  One,  the  first  great  cause  of  all; 
Thou  art  One,  and  none  can  penetrate. 
Not  even  the  wise  in  heart,  the  mystery 
Of  thy  unfathomable  Unity; 
Thou  art  One,  the  infinitely  great. 

But  man  can  perceive  that  the  power  of 
God  makes  him  great  to  pardon.  If  he 
see  it  not  now,  he  will  hereafter. 

Thou  art  light:  pure  souls  shall  thee  behold, 

Save  when  mists  of  evil  intervene. 

Thou  art  light,  that,  in  this  world  concealed, 

In  the  world  to  come  shall  be  revealed; 

In  the  mount  of  God  it  shall  be  seen. 

And  so  the  poet  in  one  of  the  final  hymns 
of  the  "  Royal  Crown,"  filled  with  a  sense 
of  his  own  unworthiness,  hopefully  aban- 
dons himself  to  God : 

My  God,  I  know  that  those  who  plead 

To  thee  for  grace  and  mercy  need 

All  their  good  works  should  go  before, 

And  wait  for  them  at  heaven's  high  door. 

But  no  good  deeds  have  I  to  bring, 

No  righteousness  for  offering, 

No  service  for  my  Lord  and  King. 


112  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Yet  hide  not  thou  thy  face  from  me, 
Nor  cast  me  out  afar  from  thee; 
But  when  thou  bidd'st  my  life  to  cease, 
O  may'st  thou  lead  me  forth  in  peace 
Unto  the  world  to  come,  to  dwell 
Among  thy  pious  ones,  who  tell 
Thy  glories  inexhaustible. 

There  let  my  portion  be  with  those 

Who  to  eternal  life  arose; 

There  purify  my  heart  aright. 

In  thy  light  to  behold  the  light. 

Raise  me  from  deepest  depths  to  share 

Heaven's  endless  joys  of  praise  and  prayer, 

That  I  may  evermore  declare: 
Though  thou  wast  angered,  Lord,  I  will  give  thanks 

to  thee, 
For  past  is  now  thy  wrath,  and  thou  dost  comfort 

me. 

Ibn  Gebirol  stood  a  little  outside  and  a 
good  deal  above  the  circle  of  the  Jewish 
poets  who  made  this  era  so  brilliant.  Many 
of  them  are  now  forgotten;  they  had  their 
day  of  popularity  in  Toledo,  Cordova,  Se- 
ville, and  Granada,  but  their  poems  have 
not  survived. 

In  the  very  year  of  Ibn  Gebirol's  death 
Moses  Ibn  Ezra  was  born.  Of  his  life 
little  is  certain,  but  it  is  known  that  he  was 


THE  SPANISH- JEWISH  POETS       \  \  3 

still  alive  in  11 38.  He  is  called  the  "  poet 
of  penitence,"  and  a  gloomy  turn  was  given 
to  his  thought  by  an  unhappy  love  attach- 
ment in  his  youth.  A  few  stanzas  of  one 
of  his  poems  run  thus : 

Sleepless,  upon  my  bed  the  hours  I  number, 
And,  rising,  seek  the  house  of  God,  while  slumber 
Lies  heavy  on  men's  eyes,  and  dreams  encumber 
Their  souls  in  visions  of  the  night. 

In  sin  and  folly  passed  my  early  years, 
Wherefore  I  am  ashamed,  and  life's  arrears 
Now  strive  to  pay,  the  while  my  tears 
Have  been  my  food  by  day  and  night. 

Short  is  man's  life,  and  full  of  care  and  sorrow, 
This  way  and  that  he  turns  some  ease  to  borrow, 
Like  to  a  flower  he  blooms,  and  on  the  morrow 
Is  gone — a  vision  of  the  night. 

How  does  the  weight  of  sin  my  soul  oppress, 
Because  God's  law  too  often  I  transgress; 
I  mourn  and  sigh,  with  tears  of  bitterness 
My  bed  I  water  all  the  night. 

My  youth  wanes  like  a  shadow  that's  cast, 
Swifter  than  eagle's  wings  my  years  fly  fast, 
And  I  remember  not  my  gladness  past, 
Either  by  day  or  yet  by  night. 

« 


114  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Proclaim  we  then  a  fast,  a  holy  day, 
Make  pure  our  hearts  from  sin,  God's  will  obey, 
And  unto  him,  with  humbled  spirit  pray 
Unceasingly,  by  day  and  night. 

May  we  yet  hear  his  words:  "  Thou  art  my  own, 
My  grace  is  thine,  the  shelter  of  my  throne, 
For  I  am  thy  Redeemer,  I  alone; 
Endure  but  patiently  this  night!  " 

But  his  hymns,  many  of  which  won  a  per- 
manent place  in  the  prayer-book,  are  not 
always  sad.  Often  they  are  warm  with 
hope,  and  there  is  a  lilt  about  them  which 
is  almost  gay.  His  chief  secular  poem, 
"  The  Topaz  "  (Tarshish),  is  in  ten  parts, 
and  contains  1210  lines.  It  is  written  on 
an  Arabic  model :  it  contains  no  rhymes, 
but  is  metrical,  and  the  same  word,  with 
entirely  different  meanings,  occurs  at  the 
end  of  several  lines.  It  needs  a  good  deal 
of  imagination  to  appreciate  Moses  Ibn 
Ezra,  and  this  is  perhaps  what  Charizi 
meant  when  he  called  him  "  the  poet's 
poet." 

Another  Ibn  Ezra,  Abraham,  one  of  the 


THE  SPAMSH-JE I VISH  POE  TS      1 1 $ 

greatest  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  born 
in  Toledo  before  1100.  He  passed  a  hard 
life,  but  he  laughed  at  his  fate.  He  said 
of  himself: 

If  I  sold  shrouds. 

No  one  would  die. 
If  I  sold  lamps, 

Then,  in  the  sky, 
The  sun,  for  spite, 
Would  shine  by  night. 

Several  of  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra's  hymns 
are  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  resignation. 
Here  is  one  of  them: 

I  hope  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord, 

In  him  I  trust,  when  fears  my  being  thrill. 

Come  life,  come  death,  according  to  his  word, 
He  is  my  portion  still. 

Hence,  doubting  heart!  I  will  the  Lord  extol 
With  gladness,  for   in  him  is  my  desire, 

Which,  as  with  fatness,  satisfies  my  soul, 
That  doth  to  heaven  aspire. 

All  that  is  hidden  shall  mine  eyes  behold, 
And  the  great  Lord  of  all  be  known  to  me, 

Him  will  I  serve,  his  am  I  as  of  old; 
I  ask  not  to  be  free. 

Sweet  is  ev'n  sorrow  coming  in  his  name, 
Nor  will  I  seek  its  purpose  to  explore, 

His  praise  will  I  continually  proclaim, 
And  bless  him  evermore. 


1 1 6  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


Ibn  Ezra  wandered  over  many  lands,  and 
even  visited  London,  where  he  stayed  in 
1 1 58.  Ibn  Ezra  was  famed,  not  only  for 
his  poetry,  but  also  for  his  brilliant  wit  and 
many-sided  learning.  As  a  mathematician, 
as  a  poet,  as  an  expounder  of  Scriptures, 
he  won  a  high  place  in  Jewish  annals.  In 
his  commentaries  he  rejected  the  current 
digressive  and  allegorical  methods,  and 
steered  a  middle  course  between  free  re- 
search on  the  one  hand,  and  blind  adher- 
ence to  tradition  on  the  other.  Ibn  Ezra 
was  the  first  to  maintain  that  the  Book  of 
Isaiah  contains  the  work  of  two  prophets — 
a  view  now  almost  universal.  He  never 
for  a  moment  doubted,  however,  that  the 
Bible  was  in  every  part  inspired  and  in 
every  part  the  word  of  God.  But  he  was 
also  the  father  of  the  "  Higher  Criticism." 
Ibn  Ezra's  pioneer  work  in  spreading 
scientific  methods  of  study  in  France  was 
shared  by  Joseph  Kimchi,  who  settled  in 
Narbonne  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 


THE  ST.  1 X/SH-JE  WISH  TOE  TS       1 1 7 

tury.  His  sons,  Moses  and  David,  were 
afterwards  famous  as  grammarians  and  in- 
terpreters of  the  Scriptures.  David  Kim- 
chi  (1 160-1235)  by  his  lucidity  and  thor- 
oughness established  for  his  grammar, 
"  Perfection  "  {Michlol),  and  his  diction- 
ary, "  Book  of  Roots,"  complete  suprem- 
acy in  the  field  of  exegesis.  He  was  the 
favorite  authority  of  the  Christian  students 
of  Hebrew  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation, 
and  the  English  Authorized  Version  of 
161 1  owed  much  to  him. 

At  this  point,  however,  we  must  retrace 
our  steps,  and  cast  a  glance  at  Hebrew  lit- 
erature in  France  at  a  period  earlier  than 
the  era  of  Ibn  Ezra. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Translations  of  Spanish-Hebrew  Poems: 
Emma  Lazarus. — Poems  (Boston,  1889). 
Mrs.    H.    Lucas. — The   Jewish    Year    (New    York, 
1898),  and  in  Editions  of  the  Prayer-Books.     See 
also  (Abrahams)  /.  Q.  R.,  XI,  p.  64. 

Ibn  Gebirol. 
Graetz.— Ill,  9. 


1 1 8  JE  WISH  L  ITER  A  TURE 

D.  Rosin. — The  Ethics  of  Solomon  Ibn  Gcbirol,  J.  Q. 
R.,  Ill,  p.  159. 

Moses  Ibn  Ezra. 
Graetz.— Ill,  p.  319  [326]. 

Abraham  Ibn  Ezra. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  366  [375]. 

Abraham  Ibn  Ezra's  Commentary  on  Isaiah  (tr. 
by  M.  Friedlander,  1873). 

M.  Friedlander. — Essays  on  Ibn  Ezra  (London, 
1877).  See  also  Transactions  of  the  Jewish  His- 
torical Society  of  England,  Vol.  II,  p.  47,  and  J. 
Jacobs,  lews  of  Angevin  England,  p.  29  seq. 

Kimchi  Family. 

Graetz. — III,  p.  392  [404]. 
Spanish-Jewish  Exegesis  and  Poetry. 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  pp.  141,  146-179 


CHAPTER  XI 

Rashi  and  Alfassi 
Nathan  of  Rome. — Alfassi. — Rashi. — Rashbam. 

Before  Hebrew  poets,  scientists,  philos- 
ophers, and  statesmen  had  made  Spain 
famous  in  Jewish  annals,  Rashi  and  his 
school  were  building  up  a  reputation  des- 
tined to  associate  Jewish  learning  with 
France.  In  France  there  was  none  of  the 
width  of  culture  which  distinguished  Spain. 
Rashi  did  not  shine  as  anything  but  an  ex- 
ponent of  traditional  Judaism.  He  pos- 
sessed no  graces  of  style,  created  no  new 
literature.  But  he  represented  Judaism  at 
its  simplest,  its  warmest,  its  intensest. 
Rashi  was  a  great  writer  because  his  sub- 
ject was  great,  not  because  he  wrote 
greatly. 

But  it  is  only  a  half-truth  to  assert  that 
Rashi  had  no  graces  of  style.  For,  if  grace 
be  the  quality  of  producing  effects  with  the 


1 20  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

least  display  of  effort,  then  there  was  no 
writer  more  graceful  than  Rashi.  His 
famous  Commentary  on  the  Talmud  is 
necessarily  long  and  intricate,  but  there  is 
never  a  word  too  much.  No  commentator 
on  any  classic  ever  surpassed  Rashi  in  the 
power  of  saying  enough  and  only  enough. 
He  owed  this  faculty  in  the  first  place  to 
his  intellectual  grasp.  He  edited  the  Tal- 
mud as  well  as  explained  it.  He  restored 
the  original  text  with  the  surest  of  critical 
instincts.  And  his  conscience  was  in  his 
work.  So  thoroughly  honest  was  he  that, 
instead  of  slurring  over  difficulties,  he 
frankly  said :  "  I  cannot  understand  .  .  . 
I  do  not  know,"  in  the  rare  cases  in  which 
he  was  at  a  loss.  Rashi  moreover  possessed 
that  wondrous  sympathy  with  author  and 
reader  which  alone  qualifies  a  third  mind 
to  interpret  author  to  reader.  Probing 
the  depth  of  the  Talmud,  Rashi  probed  the 
depth  of  the  learned  student,  and  realized 
the  needs  of  the  beginner.     Thus  the  be- 


RA SHI  A ND  ALFA  SSI  \  2 1 

ginner  finds  Rashi  useful,  and  the  specialist 
turns  to  him  for  help.  His  immediate  dis- 
ciples rarely  quote  him  by  name;  to  them 
he  is  "the  Commentator." 

Rashi  was  not  the  first  to  subject  the 
Talmud  to  critical  analysis.  The  Gaonim 
had  begun  the  task,  and  Nathan,  the  son  of 
Yechiel  of  Rome,  compiled,  in  about  the 
year  1000,  a  dictionary  (ArucJi)  which  is 
still  the  standard  work  of  reference.  But 
Rashi's  nearest  predecessor,  Alfassi,  was 
not  an  expounder  of  the  Talmud;  he  ex- 
tracted, with  much  skill,  the  practical  re- 
sults from  the  logical  mazes  in  which  they 
were  enveloped.  Isaac,  the  son  of  Jacob 
Alfassi,  derived  his  name  from  Fez,  where 
he  was  born  in  1013.  He  gave  his  intel- 
lect entirely  to  the  Talmud,  but  he  acquired 
from  the  Moorish  culture  of  his  day  a 
sense  of  order  and  system.  He  dealt  ex- 
clusively with  the  Halachah,  or  practical 
contents  of  the  Rabbinic  law,  and  the  guide 
which   he   compiled   to   the   Talmud   soon 


122  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

superseded  all  previous  works  of  its  kind. 
Solomon,  the  son  of  Isaac,  best  known 
as  Rabbi  67/elomo  /zchaki  (Rashi),  was 
born  in  1040,  and  died  in  1105,  in  Troyes, 
in  Champagne.  From  his  mother,  who 
came  of  a  family  of  poets,  he  inherited  his 
warm  humanity,  his  love  for  Judaism. 
From  his  father,  he  drew  his  Talmudical 
knowledge,  his  keen  intellect.  His  youth 
was  a  hard  one.  In  accordance  with  medi- 
eval custom,  he  was  married  as  a  boy,  and 
then  left  his  home  in  search  of  knowledge 
rather  than  of  bread.  Of  bread  he  had 
little,  but,  starved  and  straitened  in  circum- 
stances though  he  was,  he  became  an  eager 
student  at  the  Jewish  schools  which  then 
were  dotted  along  the  Rhine,  residing  now 
at  Mainz,  now  at  Speyer,  now  at  Worms. 
In  1064  he  settled  finally  in  Troyes.  Here 
he  was  at  once  hailed  as  a  new  light  in 
Israel.  His  spotless  character  and  his 
unique  reputation  as  a  teacher  attracted  a 
vast  number  of  eager  students. 


RASHI  AND  ALFASSI  123 

Of  Rashi's  Commentary  on  the  Talmud 
something  has  already  been  said.  As  to 
his  exposition  of  the  Bible,  it  soon  ac- 
quired the  widest  popularity.  It  was  in- 
ferior to  his  work  on  the  Talmud,  for,  as 
he  himself  admitted  in  later  life,  he  had 
relied  too  much  on  the  Midrash,  and  had 
attended  too  little  to  evolving  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  text  of  Scripture.  But  this 
is  the  charm  of  his  book,  and  it  is  fortu- 
nate that  he  did  not  actually  attempt  to 
recast  his  commentary.  There  is  a  quaint- 
ness  and  fascination  about  it  which  are 
lacking  in  the  pedantic  sobriety  of  Ibn 
Ezra  and  the  grammatical  exactness  of 
Kimchi.  But  he  did  himself  less  than  jus- 
tice when  he  asserted  that  he  had  given 
insufficient  heed  to  the  Peshat  (literal 
meaning).  Rashi  often  quotes  the  gram- 
matical works  of  Menachem  and  Dunash. 
He  often  translates  the  Hebrew  into 
French,  showing  a  very  exact  knowledge 
of  both  languages.     Besides,  when  he  cites 


124  JE  J  VISH  L  ITER  A  TURE 

the  Midrash,  he,  as  it  were,  constructs  a 
Peshat  out  of  it,  and  this  method,  original 
to  himself,  found  no  capable  imitators. 

Through  the  fame  of  Rashi,  France  took 
the  leadership  in  matters  Talmudical. 
Blessed  with  a  progeny  of  famous  men, 
Rashi's  influence  was  carried  on  and  in- 
creased by  the  work  of  his  sons-in-law  and 
grandsons.  Of  these,  Samuel  ben  Meir 
(Rashbam.  1100-1160)  was  the  most  re- 
nowned. The  devoted  attention  to  the  lit- 
erature of  Judaism  in  the  Rhinelands  came 
in  the  nick  of  time.  It  was  a  firm  rock 
against  the  storm  which  was  about  to 
break.  The  Crusades  crushed  out  from 
the  Jews  of  France  all  hope  of  temporal 
happiness.  When  Alfassi  died  in  1103  and 
Rashi  in  1105,  the  first  Crusade  had  barely 
spent  its  force.  The  Jewish  schools  in 
France  were  destroyed,  the  teachers  and 
scholars  massacred  or  exiled.  But  the 
spirit  lived  on.  Their  literature  was  life  to 
the  Jews,  who  had  no  other  life.     His  body 


RA  SHI  A  XD  A  LFA  SSI  1 2  5 

bent  over  Rashi's  illuminating  expositions 
of  the  Talmud  and  the  Bible,  the  medieval 
Jew  felt  his  soul  raised  above  the  miseries  of 
the  present  to  a  world  of  peace  and  right- 
eousness, where  the  wicked  ceased  from 
troubling,  and  the  weary  were  at  rest. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Alfassi  and  Rashi. 

Graetz. — III,  p.  2S5  [292]  seq. 

Alfassi. 
I.  H.  Weiss.—/.  Q.  R.,  I,  p.  290. 

Rashi. 
Schiller-Szinessy. — Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XX,  p.  284. 


CHAPTER  XII 
The  Spanish-Jewish  Poets  (II) 

Jehuda  Halevi. — Charizi. 

Turning  once  more  to  the  brighter  con- 
dition of  Jewish  literature  in  Spain,  we 
reach  a  man  upon  whom  the  whole  vocabu- 
lary of  praise  and  affection  has  been  ex- 
hausted; a  man  of  magnetic  attractiveness, 
whom  contemporaries  and  successors  have 
agreed  to  admire  and  to  love.  Jehuda  Ha- 
levi was  born  in  Toledo  about  1085,  the  year 
in  which  Alfonso  VI  recaptured  the  city 
from  the  Moors.  It  was  a  fit  birth-place  for 
the  greatest  Jewish  poet  since  Bible  times. 
East  and  West  met  in  Toledo.  The  science 
of  the  East  there  found  Western  Christians 
to  cultivate  it.  Jew,  Moor,  and  Christian 
displayed  there  mutual  toleration  which 
existed  nowhere  else.  In  the  midst  of  this 
favorable  environment  Jehuda  Halevi  grew 


THE  SPANISH-JE WISH  POETS       \2J 

to  early  maturity.  As  a  boy  he  won  more 
than  local  fame  as  a  versifier.  At  all 
festive  occasions  his  verses  were  in  de- 
mand. He  wrote  wedding  odes,  elegies 
on  great  men,  eulogies  of  the  living.  His 
love  poems,  serenades,  epigrams  of  this 
period,  all  display  taste,  elegance,  and  pas- 
sion. 

The  second  period  of  Jehuda  Halevi's 
literary  career  was  devoted  to  serious  pur- 
suits, to  thoughts  about  life,  and  to  practi- 
cal work.  He  wrote  his  far-famed  philo- 
sophical dialogue,  the  Cuzari,  and  earned 
his  living  as  a  physician.  He  was  not  an 
enthusiastic  devotee  to  medicine,  however. 
"  Toledo  is  large,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend, 
"  and  my  patients  are  hard  masters.  I, 
their  slave,  spend  my  days  in  serving  their 
will,  and  consume  my  years  in  healing  their 
infirmities."  Before  making  up  a  prescrip- 
tion, he,  like  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  used  to 
say  a  prayer  in  which  he  confessed  that 
he  had  no  great  faith  in  the  healing  powers 


128  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

of  his  art.  Jehuda  Halevi  was,  indeed,  dis- 
satisfied with  his  life  altogether.  "  My 
heart  is  in  the  East,  but  I  am  sunk  in  the 
West,"  he  lamented.  He  was  unhappy  be- 
cause his  beloved  was  far  from  him;  his 
lady-love  was  beyond  the  reach  of  his  ear- 
nest gaze.     In  Heine's  oft-quoted  words, 

She  for  whom  the  Rabbi  languished 
Was  a  woe-begone  poor  darling, 
Desolation's  very  image, 
And  her  name — Jerusalem. 

The  eager  passion  for  one  sight  of  Jeru- 
salem grew  on  him,  and  dominated  the 
third  portion  of  his  life.  At  length  noth- 
ing could  restrain  him;  go  he  would, 
though  he  die  in  the  effort.  And  go  he 
did,  and  die  he  did  in  the  effort.  The  news 
of  his  determination  spread  through  Spain, 
and  everywhere  hands  were  held  out  to  re- 
strain him.  But  his  heart  lightened  as  the 
day  of  departure  came.  His  poems  writ- 
ten at  this  time  are  hopeful  and  full  of 
cheery   feeling.     In   Egypt,   a   determined 


THE  SPA NISHJE  WISH  FOE  TS       129 

attempt  was  made  by  the  Jews  to  keep 
him  among  them.  But  it  was  vain.  On- 
ward to  Jerusalem:  this  was  his  one 
thought.  He  tarried  in  Egypt  but  a  short 
while,  then  he  passed  to  Tyre  and  Damas- 
cus. At  Damascus,  in  the  year  1140  or 
thereabouts,  he  wrote  the  ode  to  Zion 
which  made  his  name  immortal,  an  ode  in 
which  he  gave  vent  to  all  the  intense  pas- 
sion which  filled  his  soul.  The  following 
are  some  stanzas  taken  from  this  address 
to  Jerusalem : 

The  glory  of  the  Lord  has  been  alway 

Thy  sole  and  perfect  light; 

Thou  needest  not  the  sun  to  shine  by  day, 

Nor  moon  and  stars  to  illumine  thee  by  night. 

I  would  that,  where  God's  spirit  was  of  yore 

Poured  out  unto  thy  holy  ones,  I  might 

There  too  my  soul  outpour! 

The  house  of  kings  and  throne  of  God  wert  thou, 

How  comes  it  then  that  now 

Slaves  fill  the  throne  where  sat  thy  kings  before? 

Oh!  who  will  lead  me  on 

To  seek  the  spots  where,  in  far  distant  years, 
The  angels  in  their  glory  dawned  upon 
Thy  messengers  and  seers? 


1 30  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


Oh!  who  will  give  me  wings 

That  I  may  fly  away, 

And  there,  at  rest  from  all  my  wanderings, 

The  ruins  of  my  heart  among  thy  ruins  lay? 


The  Lord  desires  thee  for  his  dwelling-place 

Eternally,  and  bless'd 

Is  he  whom  God  has  chosen  for  the  grace 

Within  thy  courts  to  rest. 

Happy  is  he  that  watches,  drawing  near, 

Until  he  sees  thy  glorious  lights  arise, 

And  over  whom  thy  dawn  breaks  full  and  clear 

Set  in  the  orient  skies. 

But  happiest  he,  who,  with  exultant  eyes. 

The  bliss  of  thy  redeemed  ones  shall  behold, 

And  see  thy  youth  renewed  as  in  the  days  of  old. 

Soon  after  writing  this  Jehuda  arrived 
near  the  Holy  City.  He  was  by  her  side  at 
last,  by  the  side  of  his  beloved.  Then, 
legend  tells  us,  through  a  gate  an  Arab 
horseman  dashed  forth :  he  raised  his  spear, 
and  slew  the  poet,  who  fell  at  the  threshold 
of  his  dear  Jerusalem,  with  a  song  of  Zion 
on  his  lips. 

The  new-Hebrew  poetry  did  not  survive 
him.     Persecution  froze  the  current  of  the 


THE  SPA  NISH-JE  WISH  TOE  TS       1 3 1 

Jewish  soul.  Poets,  indeed,  arose  after  Je- 
huda  Halevi  in  Germany  as  in  Spain.  Some- 
times, as  in  the  hymns  of  the  "  German  " 
Meir  of  Rothenburg,  a  high  level  of  pas- 
sionate piety  is  reached.  But  it  has  well 
been  said  that  "  the  hymns  of  the  Spanish 
writers  link  man's  soul  to  his  Maker:  the 
hymns  of  the  Germans  link  Israel  to  his 
God."  Only  in  Spain  Hebrew  poetry  was 
universal,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Psalms 
are  universal.  Even  in  Spain  itself,  the  death 
of  Jehuda  Halevi  marked  the  close  of  this 
higher  inspiration.  The  later  Spanish  poets, 
Charizi  and  Zabara  (middle  and  end  of  the 
twelfth  century),  were  satirists  rather  than 
poets,  witty,  sparkling,  ready  with  quaint 
quips,  but  local  and  imitative  in  manner 
and  subject.  Zabara  must  receive  some 
further  notice  in  a  later  chapter  because  of 
his  connection  with  medieval  folk-lore. 
Of  Charizi's  chief  work,  the  Tachkemoni, 
it  may  be  said  that  it  is  excellent  of  its  type. 
The    stories    which    it    tells    in    unmetrical 


132  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

rhyme  are  told  in  racy  style,  and  its  criti- 
cisms on  men  and  things  are  clever  and 
striking.  As  a  literary  critic  also  Charizi 
ranks  high,  and  there  is  much  skill  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  links  together,  round 
the  person  of  his  hero,  the  various  narra- 
tives which  compose  the  TacJikemoni.  The 
experiences  he  relates  are  full  of  humor 
and  surprises.  As  a  phrase-maker,  Charizi 
was  peculiarly  happy,  his  command  of  He- 
brew being  masterly.  But  his  most  conspic- 
uous claim  to  high  rank  lies  in  his  origina- 
tion of  that  blending  of  grim  irony  with 
bright  wit  which  became  characteristic  of 
all  Jewish  humorists,  and  reached  its 
climax  in  Heine.  But  Charizi  himself  felt 
that  his  art  as  a  Hebrew  poet  was  decadent. 
Great  poets  of  Jewish  race  have  risen  since, 
but  the  songs  they  have  sung  have  not 
been  songs  of  Zion,  and  the  language  of 
their  muse  has  not  been  the  language  of 
the  Hebrew  Bible. 


THE  SPA  NISH-JE  WISH  POE  TS       1 3  3 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Jehuda  Halevi. 
Graetz. — III,  11. 
J.  Jacobs. — Jehuda  Halevi,  Poet  and  Pilgrim  (Jewish 

Ideals,  New  York,  1896,  p.  103). 
Lady    Magnus. — Jewish   Portraits   (Boston,    1889), 
p.  1. 
Translations  of  his   Poetry  by  Emma  Lazarus 
and  Mrs.  Lucas  (op.cit.);  Editions  of  the  Prayer- 
Book;  also  /.  Q.  R.,  X,  pp.  117,  626;  VII,  p.  464; 
Treasurers  of  Oxford  (London,   1850);   I.   Abra- 
hams, Jeivish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  chs.  7,  9 
and  10. 
His  Philosophy:  Specimen  of  the  Cusari,  translated 
by   A.    Neubauer   (Miscellany   of   the   Society  of 
Hebrew  Literature,  Vol.  I).     John  Owen. — /.  Q. 
R.,  III.  p.  109. 

Charizi. 

Graetz.— III.  p.  559  [577]- 

Karpeles. — Jewish   Literature  and  other  Essays,   p. 

210  seq. 
M.  Sachs. — Hebrew  Review,  Vol.  I. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Moses  Maimonides 

Maimon,  Rambam  =  R.  Moses,  the  son  of  Maimon, 
Maimonides. — His  Yad  Hachazaka  and  Moreh 
Nebuchim. — Gersonides. — Crescas. — Albo. 

The  greatest  Jew  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
Moses,  the  son  of  Maimon,  was  born  in 
Cordova,  in  1 135,  and  died  in  Fostat 
in  1204.  His  father  Maimon  was  him- 
self an  accomplished  scientist  and  an 
enlightened  thinker,  and  the  son  was 
trained  in  the  many  arts  and  sciences  then 
included  in  a  liberal  education.  When 
Moses  was  thirteen  years  old,  Cordova  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Almohades,  a  sect  of 
Mohammedans,  whose  creed  was  as  pure 
as  their  conduct  was  fanatical.  Jews  and 
Christians  were  forced  to  choose  conver- 
sion to  Islam,  exile,  or  death.  Maimon 
fled  with  his  family,  and,  after  an  interval  of 
troubled    wanderings    and    painful    priva- 


MOSES  MA  IMONIDES  1 3  5 

tions,  they  settled  in  Fez,  where  they  found 
the  Almohades  equally  powerful  and 
equally  vindictive.  Maimon  and  his  son 
were  compelled  to  assume  the  outward 
garb  of  Mohammedanism  for  a  period  of 
five  years.  From  Fez  the  family  emi- 
grated in  1 165  to  Palestine,  and,  after  a 
long  period  of  anxiety,  Moses  Maimonides 
settled  in  Egypt,  in  Fostat,  or  Old  Cairo. 

In  Egypt,  another  son  of  Maimon, 
David,  traded  in  precious  stones,  and  sup- 
ported his  learned  brother.  When  David 
was  lost  at  sea,  Maimonides  earned  a  liv- 
ing as  a  physician.  His  whole  day  was 
occupied  in  his  profession,  yet  he  contrived 
to  work  at  his  books  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  night.  His  minor  works  would 
alone  have  brought  their  author  fame. 
His  first  great  work  was  completed  in  1 168. 
It  was  a  Commentary  on  the  Mishnah, 
and  was  written  in  Arabic.  But  Mai- 
monides' reputation  rests  mainly  on  two 
books,  the  one  written  for  the  many,  the 


1 36  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

other  for  the  few.  The  former  is  his 
"  Strong  Hand "  (Yad  Hachasaka),  the 
latter  his  "Guide  of  the  Perplexed  "  (Moreh 
Nebuchim). 

The  "  Strong  Hand  "  was  a  gigantic  un- 
dertaking. In  its  fourteen  books  Maimon- 
ides  presented  a  clearly-arranged  and  clear- 
ly-worded summary  of  the  Rabbinical  Hala- 
chah,  or  Law.  In  one  sense  it  is  an  encyclo- 
pedia, but  it  is  an  encyclopedia  written  with 
style.  For  its  power  to  grapple  with  vast 
materials,  this  code  has  few  rivals  and  no 
superiors  in  other  literatures.  Maimonides 
completed  its  compilation  in  1180,  having 
spent  ten  years  over  it.  During  the  whole 
of  that  time,  he  was  not  only  a  popular 
doctor,  but  also  official  Rabbi  of  Cairo. 
He  received  no  salary  from  the  commu- 
nity, for  he  said,  "  Better  one  penny  earned 
by  the  work  of  one's  hands,  than  all  the 
revenues  of  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity,  if 
derived  from  fees  for  teaching  or  acting  as 
Rabbi."     The  "  Strong  Hand,"  called  also 


MOSES  MAIMONIDES  1 37 

"  Deuteronomy  "  (Mishnch  ToraJi),  sealed 
the  reputation  of  Maimonides  for  all  time. 
Maimonides  was  indeed  attacked,  first,  be- 
cause he  asserted  that  his  work  was  in- 
tended to  make  a  study  of  the  Talmud  less 
necessary,  and  secondly,  because  he  gave 
no  authorities  for  his  statements,  but  de- 
cided for  himself  which  Talmudical  opin- 
ions to  accept,  which  to  reject.  But  the 
severest  scrutiny  found  few  real  blemishes 
and  fewer  actual  mistakes.  "  From  Moses 
to  Moses  there  arose  none  like  Moses," 
was  a  saying  that  expressed  the  general 
reverence  for  Maimonides.  Copies  of  the 
book  were  made  everywhere;  the  Jewish 
mind  became  absorbed  in  it;  his  fame  and 
his  name  "  rang  from  Spain  to  India,  from 
the  sources  of  the  Tigris  to  South  Arabia." 
Eulogies  were  showered  on  him  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth.  And  no  praise  can  say 
more  for  this  marvellous  man  than  the  fact 
that  the  incense  burned  at  his  shrine  did 
not    intoxicate    him.     His    touch    became 


138  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

firmer,  his  step  more  resolute.  But  he 
went  on  his  way  as  before,  living  simply 
and  laboring  incessantly,  unmoved  by  the 
thunders  of  applause,  unaffected  by  the 
feebler  echoes  of  calumny.  He  corres- 
ponded with  his  brethren  far  and  near,  an- 
swered questions  as  Rabbi,  explained  pas- 
sages in  his  Commentary  on  the  Mishnah 
or  his  other  writings,  entered  heartily  into 
the  controversies  of  the  day,  discussed  the 
claims  of  a  new  aspirant  to  the  dignity  of 
Messiah,  encouraged  the  weaker  brethren 
who  fell  under  disfavor  because  they  had 
been  compelled  to  become  pretended  con- 
verts to  Islam,  showed  common-sense  and 
strong  intellectual  grasp  in  every  line  he 
wrote,  and  combined  in  his  dealings  with 
all  questions  the  rarely  associated  qualities, 
toleration  and  devotion  to  the  truth. 

Yet  he  felt  that  his  life's  work  was  still 
incomplete.  He  loved  truth,  but  truth  for 
him  had  two  aspects:  there  was  truth  as 
revealed  by   God,   there  was  truth  which 


MOSES  MAIMONIDES  1 39 

God  left  man  to  discover  for  himself.  In 
the  mind  of  Maimonides,  Moses  and  Aris- 
totle occupied  pedestals  side  by  side.  In  the 
"  Strong  Hand,"  he  had  codified  and  given 
orderly  arrangement  to  Judaism  as  revealed 
in  Bible  and  tradition;  he  would  now  exam- 
ine its  relations  to  reason,  would  compare 
its  results  with  the  data  of  philosophy.  This 
he  did  in  his  "  Guide  of  the  Perplexed  " 
(Moreh  Nebuchim).  Maimoides  here  differed 
fundamentally  from  his  immediate  prede- 
cessors. Jehuda  Halevi,  in  his  Cuzari,  was 
poet  more  than  philosopher.  The  Cuzari 
was  a  dialogue  based  on  the  three  prin- 
ciples, that  God  is  revealed  in  history,  that 
Jerusalem  is  the  centre  of  the  world,  and 
that  Israel  is  to  the  nations  as  the  heart 
to  the  limbs.  Jehuda  Halevi  supported 
these  ideas  with  arguments  deduced  from 
the  philosophy  of  his  day,  he  used  reason 
as  the  handmaid  of  theology.  Maimon- 
ides, however,  like  Saadiah,  recognized  a 
higher  function  for  reason.     He  placed  rea- 


1 40  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

son  on  the  same  level  as  revelation,  and 
then  demonstrated  that  his  faith  and  his 
reason  taught  identical  truths.  His  work, 
the  "  Guide  of  the  Perplexed,"  written  in 
Arabic  in  about  the  year  1190,  is  based,  on 
the  one  hand,  on  the  Aristotelian  system  as 
expounded  by  Arabian  thinkers,  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  on  a  firm  belief  in  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition.  With  a  masterly  hand, 
Maimonides  summarized  the  teachings  of 
Aristotle  and  the  doctrines  of  Moses  and 
the  Rabbis.  Between  these  two  independ- 
ent bodies  of  truths  he  found,  not  contra- 
diction, but  agreement,  and  he  reconciled 
them  in  a  way  that  satisfied  so  many  minds 
that  the  "  Guide  "  was  translated  into  He- 
brew twice  during  his  life-time,  and  was 
studied  by  Mohammedans  and  by  Chris- 
tians such  as  Thomas  Aquinas.  With  gen- 
eral readers,  the  third  part  was  the  most 
popular.  In  this  part  Maimonides  offered 
rational  explanations  of  the  ceremonial  and 
legislative  details  of  the  Bible. 


MOSES  MAIM  OXIDES 


141 


For  a  long  time  after  the  death  of  Mai- 
monides, which  took  place  in  1204,  Jewish 
thought  found  in  the  "  Guide  "  a  strong 
attraction  or  a  violent  repulsion.  Com- 
mentaries on  the  Moreh,  or  "  Guide,"  mul- 
tiplied apace.  Among  the  most  original  of 
the  philosophical  successors  of  Maimon- 
ides  there  were  few  Jews  but  were  greatly 
influenced  by  him.  Even  the  famous 
author  of  "The  Wars  of  the  Lord,"  Ralbag, 
Levi,  the  son  of  Gershon  (Gersonides),  who 
was  born  in  1288,  and  died  in  1344,  was 
more  or  less  at  the  same  stand-point  as  Mai- 
monides.  On  the  other  hand,  Chasdai  Cres- 
cas,  in  his  "  Light  of  God,"  written  between 
1405  and  1410,  made  a  determined  attack 
on  Aristotle,  and  dealt  a  serious  blow  at 
Maimonides.  Crescas'  work  influenced  the 
thought  of  Spinoza,  who  was  also  a  close 
student  of  Maimonides.  A  pupil  of  Crescas, 
Joseph  Albo  (1380- 1444)  was  likewise  a 
critic  of  Maimonides.  Albo's  treatise, 
'  The  Book  of  Principles  "  (Ikkarim),  be- 


1 42  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

came  a  popular  text-book.  It  was  impossi- 
ble that  the  reconciliation  of  Aristotle  and 
Moses  should  continue  to  satisfy  Jewish 
readers,  when  Aristotle  had  been  de- 
throned from  his  position  of  dictator  in 
European  thought.  But  the  "  Guide  "  of 
Maimonides  was  a  great  achievement  for 
its  spirit  more  than  for  its  contents.  If  it 
inevitably  became  obsolete  as  a  system  of 
theology,  it  permanently  acted  as  an  anti- 
dote to  the  mysticism  which  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  began  to  gain  a  hold  on 
Judaism,  and  which,  but  for  Maimonides, 
might  have  completely  undermined  the  be- 
liefs of  the  Synagogue.  Maimonides  re- 
mained the  exemplar  of  reasoning  faith 
long  after  his  particular  form  of  reasoning 
had  become  unacceptable  to  the  faithful. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Maimonides. 
Graetz. — III,  14. 
Karpeles. — Jewish  Literature  and  other  Essays,   p. 

145- 


MOSES  MA  IMONIDES  1 43 


Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  pp.  70,  82  seq., 

94  seq. 
Schiller-Szinessy. — Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  295. 

His  Works: 
Eight  Chapters. — B.  Spiers  in  Threefold  Cord  (1893). 

English  translation  in  Hebrew  Review,  Vols.   I 

and  II. 
Strong  Hand,  selections  translated  by  Soloweycik 

(London,  1863). 
Letter  to  Jchuda  Ibn  Tibbon,  translated  by  H.  Adler 

(Miscellany  of  the  Society  of  Hebrew  Literature, 

Vol.  I). 
Guide  of  the  Perplexed,   translated   by    M.    Fried- 
lander  (1885). 
Critical  Essays  on  Maimonides: 
I.  H.  Weiss. — Study  of  the  Talmud  in  the  Thirteenth 

Century,  I.  Q.  R.,  I,  p.  290. 
J.  Owen.—/.  Q.  R.,  Ill,  p.  203. 
S.  Schechter. — Studies  in  Judaism,  p.  161  [197],  etc. 

On    Maimon    (father    of    Maimonides),    see    L.    M. 
Simmons,  Letter   of  Consolation  of  Maimon  ben 
Joseph,  J.  Q.  R.,  II,  p.  62. 
Crescas. 

Graetz. — IV,  pp.  146  [157],  191  [206]. 
Albo. 
Graetz.— IV,  7. 

English    translation    of  Ikkarim,    Hebrew   Review, 
Vols.  I,  II,  III. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Diffusion  of  Science 

Provencal  Translators. — The  Ibn  Tibbons. — Italian 
Translators. — Jacob  Anatoli. — Kalonymos. — Sci- 
entific Literature. 

Translators  act  as  mediators  between 
various  peoples  and  ages.  They  bring  the 
books  and  ideas  of  one  form  of  civilization 
to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  another.  In 
the  Middle  Ages  translations  were  of  more 
importance  than  now,  since  fewer  educated 
people  could  read  foreign  languages. 

No  men  of  letters  were  more  active  than 
the  Jews  in  this  work  of  diffusion.  Dr. 
Steinschneider  fills  noo  large  pages  with 
an  account  of  the  translations  made  by 
Jews  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Jews  co-oper- 
ated with  Mohammedans  in  making  trans- 
lations from  the  Greek,  as  later  on   they 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  SCIENCE       145 

were  associated  with  Christians  in  making 
Latin  translations  of  the  masterpieces  of 
Greek  literature.  Most  of  the  Jewish  trans- 
lations, however,  that  influenced  Europe 
were  made  from  the  Arabic  into  the  He- 
brew. But  though  the  language  of  these 
translations  was  mostly  Hebrew,  they  were 
serviceable  to  others  besides  Jews.  For 
the  Hebrew  versions  were  often  only  a 
stage  in  a  longer  journey.  Sometimes  by 
Jews  directly,  sometimes  by  Christian 
scholars  acting  in  conjunction  with  Jews, 
these  Hebrew  versions  were  turned  into 
Latin,  which  most  scholars  understood, 
and  from  the  Latin  further  translations 
were  made  into  the  every-day  languages  of 
Europe. 

The  works  so  translated  were  chiefly  the 
scientific  and  philosophical  masterpieces 
of  the  Greeks  and  Arabs.  Poetry  and  his- 
tory were  less  frequently  the  subject  of 
translation,  but,  as  will  be  seen  later  on, 

the  spread  of  the  fables  of  Greece  and  of 
10 


1 46  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

the  folk-tales  of  India  owed  something  to 
Hebrew  translators  and  editors. 

Provence  was  a  meeting-place  for  Arab 
science  and  Jewish  learning  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  it  was  there  that  the  translating 
impulse  of  the  Jews  first  showed  itself 
strongly.  By  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  Hebrew  translation  had  be- 
come an  art.  True,  these  Hebrew  versions 
possess  no  graces  of  style,  but  they  rank 
among  the  best  of  their  class  for  fidelity  to 
their  originals.  Jewish  patrons  encouraged 
the  translators  by  material  and  moral  sup- 
port. Thus,  Meshullam  of  Lunel  (twelfth 
century)  was  both  learned  and  wealthy,  and 
his  eager  encouragement  of  Judah  Ibn 
Tibbon,  "  the  father  of  Jewish  translators," 
gave  a  strong  impetus  to  the  translating 
activity  of  the  Jews. 

Judah  Ibn  Tibbon  (about  1120-1190) 
was  of  Spanish  origin,  but  he  emigrated 
from  Granada  to  Provence  during  the  same 
persecution   that  drove  Maimonides  from 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  SCIENCE       147 

his  native  land.  Judah  settled  in  Lunel, 
and  his  skill  as  a  physician  won  him  such 
renown  that  his  medical  services  were 
sought  by  knights  and  bishops  even  from 
across  the  sea.  Judah  Ibn  Tibbon  was  a 
student  of  science  and  philosophy.  He 
early  qualified  himself  as  a  translator  by 
careful  attention  to  philological  niceties. 
Under  the  inspiration  of  Meshullam,  he 
spent  the  years  1161  to  1186  in  making 
a  series  of  translations  from  Arabic  into 
Hebrew.  His  translations  were  difficult 
and  forced  in  style,  but  he  had  no  ready- 
made  language  at  his  command.  He  had 
to  create  a  new  Hebrew.  Classical  He- 
brew was  naturally  destitute  of  the  techni- 
cal terms  of  philosophy,  and  Ibn  Tibbon 
invented  expressions  modelled  on  the 
Greek  and  the  Arabic.  He  made  Hebrew 
once  more  a  living  language  by  extending 
its  vocabulary  and  adapting  its  idioms  to 
the  requirements  of  medieval  culture. 
His    son    Samuel    (1 160-1230)    and    his 


1 48  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

grandson  Moses  continued  the  line  of  faith- 
ful but  inelegant  translators.  Judah  had 
turned  into  Hebrew  the  works  of  Bachya, 
Ibn  Gebirol,  Jehuda  Halevi,  Ibn  Janach, 
and  Saadiah.  Samuel  was  the  translator  of 
Maimonides,  and  bore  a  brave  part  in  the 
defence  of  his  master  in  the  bitter  contro- 
versies which  arose  as  to  the  lawfulness  and 
profit  of  studying  philosophy.  The  transla- 
tions of  the  Tibbon  family  were  in  the  first 
instance  intended  for  Jewish  readers  only, 
but  later  on  the  Tibbonite  versions  were 
turned  into  Latin  by  Buxtorf  and  others. 
Another  Latin  translation  of  Maimonides 
existed  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century. 

Of  the  successors  of  the  Tibbons,  Jacob 
Anatoli  (1238)  was  the  first  to  translate  any 
portion  of  Averroes  into  any  language. 
Averroes  was  an  Arab  thinker  of  supreme 
importance  in  the  Middle  Ages,  for 
through  his  writings  Europe  was  ac- 
quainted with  Aristotle.  Renan  asserts 
that  all  the  early  students  of  Averroes  were 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  SCIENCE       149 

Jews.  Anatoli,  a  son-in-law  of  Samuel  Ibn 
Tibbon,  was  invited  by  Emperor  Frederick 
II  to  leave  Provence  and  settle  in  Naples. 
To  allow  Anatoli  full  leisure  for  making 
translations,  Frederick  granted  him  an  an- 
nual income.  Anatoli  was  a  friend  of  the 
Christian  Michael  Scot,  and  the  latter  made 
Latin  renderings  from  the  former's  He- 
brew translations.  In  this  way  Christian 
Europe  was  made  familiar  with  Aristotle 
as  interpreted  by  Averroes  (Ibn  Roshd). 
Much  later,  the  Jew  Abraham  de  Balmes 
(1523)  translated  Averroes  directly  from 
Arabic  into  Latin.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  Kalonymos,  the 
son  of  Kalonymos,  of  Aries  (born  1287), 
translated  various  works  into  Latin. 

From  the  thirteenth  century  onwards, 
Jews  were  industrious  translators  of  all  the 
important  masterpieces  of  scientific  and 
philosophical  literature.  Their  zeal  in- 
cluded the  works  of  the  Greek  astronomers 
and     mathematicians,      Ptolemy,      Euclid, 


I  50  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Archimedes,  and  many  others.  Alfonso  X 
commissioned  several  Jews  to  co-operate 
with  the  royal  secretaries  in  making  new 
renderings  of  older  Arabic  works  on  as- 
tronomy. Long  before  this,  in  959,  the 
monk  Nicholas  joined  the  Jew  Chasdai  in 
translating  Dioscorides.  Most  of  the  Jew- 
ish translators  were,  however,  not  Spani- 
ards, but  Provencals  and  Italians.  It  is  to 
them  that  we  owe  the  Hebrew  translations 
of  Galen  and  Hippocrates,  on  which  Latin 
versions  were  based. 

The  preceding  details,  mere  drops  from 
an  ocean  of  similar  facts,  show  that  the 
Jews  were  the  mediators  between  Moham- 
medan and  Christian  learning  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  According  to  Lecky,  "  the 
Jews  were  the  chief  interpreters  to  West- 
ern Europe  of  Arabian  learning."  When 
it  is  remembered  that  Arabian  learning  for 
a  long  time  included  the  Greek,  it  will  be 
seen  that  Lecky  ascribes  to  Jewish  trans- 
lators a  role  of  the  first  importance  in  the 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  SCIENCE       l  5  I 

history  of  science.  Roger  Bacon  (12 14- 
1294)  had  long  before  said  a  similar  thing: 
"  Michael  Scot  claimed  the  merit  of  nu- 
merous translations.  But  it  is  certain  that 
a  Jew  labored  at  them  more  than  he  did. 
And  so  with  the  rest." 

In  what  precedes,  nothing  has  been  said 
of  the  original  contributions  made  by  Jew- 
ish authors  to  scientific  literature.  Jews 
were  active  in  original  research  especially 
in  astronomy,  medicine,  and  mathematics. 
Many  Jewish  writers  famous  as  philoso- 
phers, Talmudists,  or  poets,  were  also  men 
of  science.  There  are  numerous  Jewish 
works  on  the  calendar,  on  astronomical  in- 
struments and  tables,  on  mathematics,  on 
medicine,  and  natural  history.  Some  of 
their  writers  share  the  medieval  belief  in 
astrology  and  magic.  But  it  is  noteworthy 
that  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra  doubted  the  com- 
mon belief  in  demons,  while  Maimonides 
described  astrology  as  "  that  error  called  a 
science."    These  subjects,  however,  are  too 


152  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

technical  for  fuller  treatment  in  the  present 
book.  More  will  be  found  in  the  works 
cited  below. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ibn  Tibbon  Family. 

Graetz. — III,  p.  397  [409]. 

Jacob  Anatoli. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  566  [584]. 

Karpeles. — Sketch  of  Jewish  History  (Jewish  Pub- 
lication Society  of  America,  1897),  pp.  49,  57. 

Jewish  Translators. 

Steinschneider,  Jeivish  Literature,  p.  62  seq. 

Science  and  Medicine. 

Steinschneider. — Ibid.,  pp.   179  seq.,  260  seq. 

Also,  A.  Friedenwald. — Jeivish  Physicians  and  the 
Contributions  of  the  Jews  to  the  Science  of  Medi- 
cine {Publications  of  the  Gratz  College,  Vol.  I). 


CHAPTER  XV 
The  Diffusion  of  Folk-Tales 

Barlaam  and  Joshaphat. — The  Fables  of  Bidpai. — 
Abraham  Ibn  Chisdai. — Berachya  ha-Nakdan. — 
Joseph  Zabara. 

The  folk-tales  of  India  were  communi- 
cated to  Europe  in  two  ways.  First,  there 
was  an  oral  diffusion.  In  friendly  conver- 
sation round  the  family  hearth,  in  the  con- 
vivial intercourse  of  the  tavern  and  divan, 
the  wit  and  wisdom  of  the  East  found  a 
home  in  the  West.  Having  few  opportu- 
nities of  coming  into  close  relations  with 
Christian  society,  the  Jews  had  only  a  small 
share  in  the  oral  diffusion  of  folk-tales. 
But  there  was  another  means  of  diffusion, 
namely,  by  books.  By  their  writings  the 
Jews  were  able  to  leave  some  impress  on 
the  popular  literature  of  Europe. 

This    they    did    by    their    translations. 
Sometimes  the  Jews  translated  fables  and 


154  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

folk-tales  solely  for  their  own  use,  and  in 
such  cases  the  translations  did  not  leave 
the  Hebrew  form  into  which  they  were 
cast.  A  good  example  of  this  was  Abra- 
ham Ibn  Chisdai's  "  Prince  and  Nazirite," 
compiled  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  It  was  a  Hebrew  version  of  the 
legend  of  Buddha,  known  as  "  Barlaam 
and  Joshaphat."  In  this  the  story  is  told 
of  a  prince's  conversion  to  the  ascetic  life. 
His  father  had  vainly  sought  to  hold  him 
firm  to  a  life  of  pleasure  by  isolating  him 
in  a  beautiful  palace,  far  from  the  haunts 
of  man,  so  that  he  might  never  know  that 
such  things  as  evil,  misery,  and  death  ex- 
isted. Of  course  the  plan  failed,  the  prince 
discovered  the  things  hidden  from  him, 
and  he  became  converted  to  the  life  of  self- 
denial  and  renunciation  associated  with  the 
saintly  teaching  of  Buddha.  This  story  is 
the  frame  into  which  a  number  of  charm- 
ing; tales  are  set,  which  have  found  their 
way  into  the  popular  literature  of  all  the 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  FOLK-TALES  155 

world.  But  in  this  spread  of  the  Indian 
stories,  the  book  of  Abraham  Ibn  Chisdai 
had  no  part. 

Far  other  it  was  with  the  Hebrew  trans- 
lation of  the  famous  Fables  of  Bidpai, 
known  in  Hebrew  as  Kalila  vc-Dimna. 
These  fables,  like  those  contained  in  the 
"  Prince  and  Nazirite,"  were  Indian,  and 
were  in  fact  birth-stories  of  Buddha.  They 
were  connected  by  means  of  a  frame,  or 
central  plot.  A  large  part  of  the  popular 
tales  of  the  Middle  Ages  can  be  traced  to 
the  Fables  of  Bidpai,  and  here  the  Jews 
exerted  important  influence.  Some  au- 
thorities even  hold  that  these  Fables  of 
Bidpai  were  brought  to  Spain  directly 
from  India  by  Jews.  This  is  doubtful,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  spread  of  the  Fables 
was  due  to  Jewish  activity.  A  Jew  trans- 
lated them  into  Hebrew,  and  this  Hebrew 
was  turned  into  Latin  by  the  Italian  John 
of  Capua,  a  Jew  by  birth,  in  the  year  1270. 
Moreover,  the  Old  Spanish  version  which 


156  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

was  made  in  1251  probably  was  also  the 
work  of  the  Jewish  school  of  translators 
established  in  Toledo  by  Alfonso.  The 
Greek  version,  which  was  earlier  still,  and 
dates  from  1080,  was  equally  the  work  of 
a  Jew.  Thus,  as  Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs  has 
shown,  this  curious  collection  of  fables, 
which  influenced  Europe  more  perhaps 
than  any  book  except  the  Bible,  started  as 
a  Buddhistic  work,  and  passed  over  to  the 
Mohammedans  and  Christians  chiefly 
through  the  mediation  of  Jews. 

Another  interesting  collection  of  fables 
was  made  by  Berachya  ha-Nakdan  (the 
Punctuator,  or  Grammarian).  He  lived  in 
England  in  the  twelfth  century,  or  accord- 
ing to  another  opinion  he  dwelt  in  France 
a  century  later.  His  collection  of  107 
"  Fox  Fables  "  won  wide  popularity,  for 
their  wit  and  point  combined  with  their 
apt  use  of  Biblical  phrases  to  please  the 
medieval  taste.  The  fables  in  this  collec- 
tion   are    all    old,    many    of    them    being 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  FOLK-TALES  157 

iEsop's,  but  it  is  very  possible  that  the  first 
knowledge  of  zEsop  gained  in  England 
was  derived  from  a  Latin  translation  of 
Berachya. 

Of  greater  poetical  merit  was  Joseph  Za- 
bara's  "  Book  of  Delight,"  written  in  about 
the  year  1200  in  Spain.  In  this  poetical 
romance  a  large  number  of  ancient  fables 
and  tales  are  collected,  but  they  are  thrown 
into  a  frame-work  which  is  partially  ori- 
ginal. One  night  he,  the  author,  lay  at 
rest  after  much  toil,  when  a  giant  appeared 
before  him,  and  bade  him  rise.  Joseph 
hastily  obeyed,  and  by  the  light  of  the  lamp 
which  the  giant  carried  partook  of  a  fine 
banquet  which  his  visitor  spread  for  him. 
Enan,  for  such  was  the  giant's  name,  of- 
fered to  take  Joseph  to  another  land,  pleas- 
ant as  a  garden,  where  all  men  were  loving, 
all  men  wise.  But  Joseph  refused,  and 
told  Enan  fable  after  fable,  about  leopards, 
foxes,  and  lions,  all  proving  that  it  was 
best  for  a  man  to  remain  where  he  was  and 


158  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

not  travel  to  foreign  places.  But  Enan 
coaxes  Joseph  to  go  with  him,  and  as  they 
ride  on,  they  tell  one  another  a  very  long 
series  of  excellent  tales,  and  exchange 
many  witty  remarks  and  anecdotes.  When 
at  last  they  reach  Enan's  city,  Joseph  dis- 
covers that  his  guide  is  a  demon.  In  the 
end,  Joseph  breaks  away  from  him,  and 
returns  home  to  Barcelona.  Now,  it  is 
very  remarkable  that  this  collection  of 
tales,  written  in  exquisite  Hebrew,  closely 
resembles  the  other  collections  in  which 
Europe  delighted  later  on.  It  is  hard  to 
believe  that  Zabara's  work  had  no  influence 
in  spreading  these  tales.  At  all  events, 
Jews,  Christians,  and  Mohammedans,  all 
read  and  enjoyed  the  same  stories,  all 
laughed  at  the  same  jokes.  "  It  is,"  says 
Mr.  Jacobs,  "  one  of  those  touches  of  na- 
ture which  make  the  whole  world  kin. 
These  folk-tales  form  a  bond,  not  alone  be- 
tween the  ages,  but  between  many  races 
who    think    they    have    nothing    in    com- 


THE  DIFFUSION  OF  FOLK-TALES  159 

mon.  We  have  the  highest  authority  that 
'  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings 
has  the  Lord  established  strength,'  and 
surely  of  all  the  influences  for  good  in  the 
world,  none  is  comparable  to  the  lily  souls 
of  little  children.  That  Jews,  by  their  dif- 
fusion of  folk-tales,  have  furnished  so  large 
an  amount  of  material  to  the  childish  ima- 
gination of  the  civilized  world  is,  to  my 
mind,  no  slight  thing  for  Jews  to  be  proud 
of.  It  is  one  of  the  conceptions  that  make 
real  to  us  the  idea  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man,  which,  in  Jewish  minds,  is  forever 
associated  with  the  Fatherhood  of  God." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

J.  Jacobs. — The  Diffusion  of  Folk   Talcs   (in  Jewish 

Ideals,  p.   135);    The  Fables  of  Bidpai  (London, 

1888)  and  Barlaam  and  Joshaphat  (Introductions). 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  174. 

Berachya  ha-Nakdan. 

J.  Jacobs. — Jews  of  Angevin  England,  pp.  165  scq., 

278. 
A.  Neubauer.— /.  Q.  R.,  II,  p.  520. 
Zabara. 
I.  Abrahams.—/.  Q.  R.,  VI,  p.  502  (with  English 
translation  of  the  Book  of  Delight). 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Moses  Nachmanides 

French  and  Spanish  Talmudists. — The  Tossafists, 
Asher  of  Speyer,  Tarn,  Isaac  of  Dompaire,  Ba- 
ruch  of  Ratisbon,  Perez  of  Corbeil. — Nachmani- 
des' Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch. — Public 
controversies  between  Jews  and  Christians. 

Nachmanides  was  one  of  the  earliest  writers 
to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the  French 
and  the  Spanish  schools  of  Jewish  litera- 
ture. On  the  one  side,  his  Spanish  birth  and 
training  made  him  a  friend  of  the  widest 
culture;  on  the  other,  he  was  possessed  of 
the  French  devotion  to  the  Talmud.  Moses, 
the  son  of  Nachman  (Nachmanides,  Ram- 
ban,  1 195-1270),  Spaniard  though  he  was, 
says,  "  The  French  Rabbis  have  won  most 
Jews  to  their  view.  They  are  our  masters  in 
Talmud,  and  to  them  we  must  go  for  in- 
struction." From  the  eleventh  to  the 
fourteenth    century,    a    French    school    of 


MOSES  NA  CHMANIDES  \ 6 1 

Talmudists  occupied  themselves  with  the 
elucidation  of  the  Talmud,  and  from  the 
"Additions"  (Tossafoth)  which  they  com- 
piled they  are  known  as  Tossafists.  The 
Tossafists  were  animated  with  an  alto- 
gether different  spirit  from  that  of  the 
Spanish  writers  on  the  Talmud.  But 
though  their  method  is  very  involved  and 
over-ingenious,  they  display  so  much  mas- 
tery of  the  Talmud,  such  excellent  discrim- 
ination, and  so  keen  a  critical  insight,  that 
they  well  earned  the  fame  they  have  en- 
joyed. The  earliest  Tossafists  were  the 
family  and  pupils  of  Rashi,  but  the  method 
spread  from  Northern  France  to  Provence, 
and  thence  to  Spain.  The  most  famous 
Tossafists  were  Isaac,  the  son  of  Asher  of 
Speyer  (end  of  the  eleventh  century);  Tarn 
of  Rameru  (Rashi's  grandson);  Isaac  the 
Elder  of  Dompaire  (Tarn's  nephew); 
Baruch  of  Ratisbon;  and  Perez  of  Corbeil. 
Nachmanides'  admiration  for  the  French 

method — a  method  by  no  means  restricted 
11 


1 62  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

to  the  Tossafists — did  not  blind  him  to  its 
defects.  '  They  try  to  force  an  elephant 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle,"  he  sarcasti- 
cally said  of  some  of  the  French  casuists. 
Nachmanides  thus  possessed  some  of  the 
independence  characteristic  of  the  Spanish 
Jews.  He  also  shared  the  poetic  spirit  of 
Spain,  and  his  hymn  for  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment is  one  of  the  finest  products  of  the 
new-Hebrew  muse.  The  last  stanzas  run 
thus: 

Thine  is  the  love,  O  God,  and  thine  the  grace, 
That  holds  the  sinner  in  its  mild  embrace; 
Thine  the  forgiveness,  bridging  o'er  the  space 
'Twixt  man's  works  and  the  task  set  by  the  King. 

Unheeding  all  my  sins,  I  cling  to  thee! 
I  know  that  mercy  shall  thy  footstool  be: 
Before  I  call,  O  do  thou  answer  me, 

For  nothing  dare  I  claim  of  thee,  my  King! 

O  thou,  who  makest  guilt  to  disappear, 
My  help,  my  hope,  my  rock,  I  will  not  fear; 
Though  thou  the  body  hold  in  dungeon  drear, 
The  soul  has  found  the  palace  of  the  King! 

Everything  that  Nachmanides  wrote  is 
warm  with  tender  love.     He  was  an  enthu- 


MOSES  NACHMANIDES  163 

siast  in  many  directions.  His  heart  went 
out  to  the  French  Talmudists,  yet  he  cher- 
ished so  genuine  an  affection  for  Maimon- 
ides  that  he  defended  him  with  spirit 
against  his  detractors.  Gentle  by  nature, 
he  broke  forth  into  fiery  indignation 
against  the  French  critics  of  Maimonides. 
At  the  same  time  his  tender  soul  was  at- 
tracted by  the  emotionalism  of  the  Kab- 
bala,  or  mystical  view  of  life,  a  view  equally 
opposed  to  the  views  of  Maimonides  and 
of  the  French  school.  He  tried  to  act  the 
part  of  reconciler,  but  his  intellect,  strong 
as  it  was,  was  too  much  at  the  mercy  of 
his  emotions  for  him  to  win  a  commanding 
place  in  the  controversies  of  his  time. 

For  a  moment  we  may  turn  aside  from 
his  books  to  the  incidents  of  his  life.  Like 
Maimonides,  he  was  a  physician  by  profes- 
sion and  a  Rabbi  by  way  of  leisure.  The 
most  momentous  incident  in  his  career  in 
Barcelona  was  his  involuntary  participa- 
tion  in   a  public   dispute   with   a   convert 


1 64  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

from  the  Synagogue.  Pablo  Christiani 
burned  with  the  desire  to  convert  the  Jews 
en  masse  to  Christianity,  and  in  1263  he 
induced  King  Jayme  I  of  Aragon  to  sum- 
mon Nachmanides  to  a  controversy  on  the 
truth  of  Christianity.  Nachmanides  com- 
plied with  the  royal  command  most  reluc- 
tantly. He  felt  that  the  process  of  rousing 
theological  animosity  by  a  public  discus- 
sion could  only  end  in  a  religious  perse- 
cution. However,  he  had  no  alternative 
but  to  assent.  He  stipulated  for  complete 
freedom  of  speech.  This  was  granted,  but 
when  Nachmanides  published  his  version 
of  the  discussion,  the  Dominicans  were  in- 
censed. True,  the  special  commission  ap- 
pointed to  examine  the  charge  of  blas- 
phemy brought  against  Nachmanides  re- 
ported that  he  had  merely  availed  himself 
of  the  right  of  free  speech  which  had  been 
guaranteed  to  him.  He  was  nevertheless 
sentenced  to  exile,  and  his  pamphlet  was 
burnt.     Nachmanides  was  seventy  years  of 


MOSES  NA  CHMANIDES  165 

age  at  the  time.  He  settled  in  Palestine, 
where  he  died  in  about  1270,  amid  a  band 
of  devoted  friends  and  disciples,  who  did 
not,  however,  reconcile  him  to  the  separa- 
tion from  his  Spanish  home.  "  I  left  my 
family,"  he  wrote,  "  I  forsook  my  house. 
There,  with  my  sons  and  daughters,  the 
sweet,  dear  children  whom  I  brought  up 
on  my  knees,  I  left  also  my  soul.  My  heart 
and  my  eyes  will  dwell  with  them  forever." 
The  Halachic,  or  Talmudical,  works  of 
Nachmanides  have  already  been  men- 
tioned. His  homiletical,  or  exegetical, 
writings  are  of  more  literary  importance. 
In  "  The  Sacred  Letter "  he  contended 
that  man's  earthly  nature  is  divine  no  less 
than  his  soul,  and  he  vindicates  the  "  flesh  " 
from  the  attacks  made  on  human  character 
by  certain  forms  of  Christianity.  The  body, 
according  to  Nachmanides,  is,  with  all  its 
functions,  the  work  of  God,  and  therefore 
perfect.  "  It  is  only  sin  and  neglect  that 
disfigure  God's  creatures."     In  another  of 


1 66  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

his  books,  "  The  Law  of  Man,"  Nachma- 
nides  writes  of  suffering  and  death.  He 
offers  an  antidote  to  pessimism,  for  he 
boldly  asserts  that  pain  and  suffering  in 
themselves  are  "  a  service  of  God,  leading 
man  to  ponder  on  his  end  and  reflect  about 
his  destiny."  Nachmanides  believed  in 
the  bodily  resurrection,  but  held  that  the 
soul  was  in  a  special  sense  a  direct  emana- 
tion from  God.  He  was  not  a  philosopher 
strictly  so-called;  he  was  a  mystic  more 
than  a  thinker,  one  to  whom  God  was  an 
intuition,  not  a  concept  of  reason. 

The  greatest  work  of  Nachmanides  was 
his  "  Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch." 
He  reveals  his  whole  character  in  it.  In 
composing  his  work  he  had,  he  tells  us, 
three  motives,  an  intellectual,  a  theologi- 
cal, and  an  emotional  motive.  First,  he 
would  "  satisfy  the  minds  of  students,  and 
draw  their  heart  out  by  a  critical  examina- 
tion of  the  text."  His  exposition  is,  in- 
deed, based  on  true  philology  and  on  deep 


MOSES  NA  CHMANIDES  1 6j 

and  original  study  of  the  Bible.  His  style 
is  peculiarly  attractive,  and  had  he  been 
content  to  offer  a  plain  commentary,  his 
work  would  have  ranked  among  the  best. 
But  he  had  other  desires  besides  giving  a 
simple  explanation  of  the  text.  He  had, 
secondly,  a  theological  motive,  to  justify 
God  and  discover  in  the  words  of  Scripture 
a  hidden  meaning.  In  the  Biblical  narra- 
tives, Nachmanides  sees  types  of  the  his- 
tory of  man.  Thus,  the  account  of  the 
six  days  of  creation  is  turned  into  a  proph- 
ecy of  the  events  which  would  occur  during 
the  next  six  thousand  years,  and  the 
seventh  day  is  a  type  of  the  millennium. 
So,  too,  Nachmanides  finds  symbolical 
senses  in  Scriptural  texts,  "  for,  in  the 
Torah,  are  hidden  every  wonder  and  every 
mystery,  and  in  her  treasures  is  sealed 
every  beauty  of  wisdom."  Finally,  Nach- 
manides wrote,  not  only  for  educational 
and  theological  ends,  but  also  for  edifica- 
tion.     His  third   purpose   was   "  to  bring 


1 68  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

peace  to  the  minds  of  students  (laboring 
under  persecution  and  trouble),  when  they 
read  the  portion  of  the  Pentateuch  on  Sab- 
baths and  festivals,  and  to  attract  their 
hearts  by  simple  explanations  and  sweet 
words."  His  own  enthusiastic  and  loving 
temperament  speaks  in  this  part  of  his 
commentary.  It  is  true,  as  Graetz  says, 
that  Nachmanides  exercised  more  influ- 
ence on  his  contemporaries  and  on  suc- 
ceeding ages  by  his  personality  than  by  his 
writings.  But  it  must  be  added  that  the 
writings  of  Nachmanides  are  his  person- 
ality. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Nachmanides. 
I.  H.  Weiss,  Study  of  the  Talmud  in  the  Thirteenth 

Century,  J.  Q.  R.,  I,  p.  289. 
S.  Schechter. — Studies  in  Judaism,  p.  99  [120]. 
Graetz.— Ill,  17;  also  III,  p.  598  [617]. 

Jacob  Tam. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  375  [385]. 

TOSSAFISTS. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  344  [351],  403  [415]. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

The  Zohar  and  Later  Mysticism 

Kabbala.— The  Bahir— Abulafia—  Moses  of  Leon.— 
The  Zohar.— Isaac  Lurya.— Isaiah  Hurwitz  — 
Christian  Kabbalists— The  Chassidim. 

Mysticism  is  the  name  given  to  the  belief 
in  direct,  intuitive  communion  with  God. 
All  true  religion  has  mystical  elements,  for 
all  true  religion  holds  that  man  can  com- 
mune with  God,  soul  with  soul.  In  the 
Psalms,  God  is  the  Rock  of  the  heart,  the 
Portion  of  the  cup,  the  Shepherd  and 
Light,  the  Fountain  of  Life,  an  exceeding 
Joy.  All  this  is,  in  a  sense,  mystical  lan- 
guage. But  mysticism  has  many  dangers. 
It  is  apt  to  confuse  vague  emotionalism 
and  even  hysteria  with  communion  with 
God.  A  further  defect  of  mysticism  is  that, 
in  its  medieval  forms,  it  tended  to  the 
multiplication    of   intermediate   beings,    or 


1 70  JE  WISH  LITERA  TURE 

angels,  which  it  created  to  supply  the 
means  for  that  communion  with  God 
which,  in  theory,  the  mystics  asserted  was 
direct.  Finally,  from  being  a  deep-seated, 
emotional  aspect  of  religion,  mysticism  de- 
generated into  intellectual  sport,  a  play 
with  words  and  a  juggling  with  symbols. 

Jewish  mysticism  passed  through  all 
these  stages.  Kabbala — as  mysticism  was 
called — really  means  "  Tradition,"  and  the 
name  proves  that  the  theory  had  its  roots 
far  back  in  the  past.  It  has  just  been  said 
that  there  is  mysticism  in  the  Psalms.  So 
there  is  in  the  idea  of  inspiration,  the 
prophet's  receiving  a  message  direct  from 
God  with  whom  he  spoke  face  to  face. 
After  the  prophetic  age,  Jewish  mysticism 
displayed  itself  in  intense  personal  reli- 
giousnesses well  as  in  love  for  Apocalyptic, 
or  dream,  literature,  in  which  the  sleeper 
could,  like  Daniel,  feel  himself  lapped  to 
rest  in  the  bosom  of  God. 

All  the  earlier  literary  forms  of  mysti- 


ZOHAR  AND  LATER  MYSTICISM  17 1 

cism,  or  theosophy,  made  comparatively 
little  impression  on  Jewish  writers.  But 
at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century 
a  great  development  took  place  in  the 
"  secret "  science  of  the  Kabbala.  The 
very  period  which  produced  the  rational- 
ism of  Maimonides  gave  birth  to  the  emo- 
tionalism of  the  Kabbala.  The  Kabbala 
was  at  first  a  protest  against  too  much  in- 
tellectualism  and  rigidity  in  religion.  It 
reclaimed  religion  for  the  heart.  A  num- 
ber of  writers  more  or  less  dallied  with  the 
subject,  and  then  the  Kabbala  took  a 
bolder  flight.  Ezra,  or  Azriel,  a  teacher 
of  Nachmanides,  compiled  a  book  called 
"  Brilliancy  "  (Bahir)  in  the  year  1240.  It 
was  at  once  regarded  as  a  very  ancient 
book.  As  will  be  seen,  the  same  pretence 
of  antiquity  was  made  with  regard  to  an- 
other famous  Kabbalistic  work  of  a  later 
generation.  Under  Todros  Abulafia  (1234- 
1304)  and  Abraham  Abulafia  (1240-1291), 
the   mystical   movement   took   a   practical 


172  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

shape,  and  the  Jewish  masses  were  much 
excited  by  stories  of  miracles  performed 
and  of  the  appearance  of  a  new  Messiah. 

At  this  moment  Moses  of  Leon  (born  in 
Leon  in  about  1250,  died  in  Arevalo  in 
1305)  wrote  the  most  famous  Kabbalistic 
book  of  the  Middle  Ages.  This  was 
named,  in  imitation  of  the  Bahir,  "  Splen- 
dor "  (Zohar),  and  its  brilliant  success 
matched  its  title.  Not  only  did  this  ex- 
traordinary book  raise  the  Kabbala  to  the 
zenith  of  its  influence,  but  it  gave  it  a  firm 
and,  as  it  has  proved,  unassailable  basis. 
Like  the  Bahir,  the  Zohar  was  not  of- 
fered to  the  public  on  its  own  merits,  but 
was  announced  as  the  work  of  Simon,  the 
son  of  Yochai,  who  lived  in  the  second  cen- 
tury. The  Zohar,  it  was  pretended,  had 
been  concealed  in  a  cavern  in  Galilee  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  had  now 
been  suddenly  discovered.  The  Zohar  is, 
indeed,  a  work  of  genius,  its  spiritual 
beauty,   its  fancy,   its  daring  imagery,   its 


ZOHAR  AND  LATER  MYSTICISM  173 

depth  of  devotion,  ranking  it  among  the 
great  books  of  the  world.  Its  literary 
style,  however,  is  less  meritorious;  it  is 
difficult  and  involved.  As  Chatterton 
clothed  his  ideas  in  a  pseudo-archaic  Eng- 
lish, so  Moses  of  Leon  used  an  Aramaic 
idiom,  which  he  handled  clumsily  and  not 
as  one  to  the  manner  born.  It  would  not 
be  so  important  to  insist  on  the  fact  that 
the  Zohar  was  a  literary  forgery,  that  it 
pretended  to  an  antiquity  it  did  not  own, 
were  it  not  that  many  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians still  write  as  though  they  believe  that 
the  book  is  as  old  as  it  was  asserted  to  be. 
The  defects  of  the  Zohar  are  in  keeping 
with  this  imposture.  Absurd  allegories 
are  read  into  the  Bible;  the  words  of  Scrip- 
ture are  counters  in  a  game  of  distortion 
and  combination;  God  himself  is  obscured 
amid  a  maze  of  mystic  beings,  childishly 
conceived  and  childishly  named.  Philo- 
sophically, the  Zohar  has  no  originality. 
Its  doctrines  of  the  Transmigration  of  the 


1 74  JE  WISH  LITERA  TURE 

Soul,  of  the  Creation  as  God's  self-revela- 
tion in  the  world,  of  the  Emanation  from 
the  divine  essence  of  semi-human,  semi- 
divine  powers,  were  only  commonplaces 
of  medieval  theology.  Its  great  original 
idea  was  that  the  revealed  Word  of  God, 
the  Torah,  was  designed  for  no  other  pur- 
pose than  to  effect  a  union  between  the 
soul  of  man  and  the  soul  of  God. 

Reinforced  by  this  curious  jumble  of 
excellence  and  nonsense,  the  Kabbala  be- 
came one  of  the  strongest  literary  bonds 
between  Jews  and  Christians.  It  is  hardly 
to  be  wondered  at,  for  the  Zohar  contains 
some  ideas  which  are  more  Christian  than 
Jewish.  Christians,  like  Pico  di  Mirandola 
(1463-1494),  under  the  influence  of  the 
Jewish  Kabbalist  Jochanan  Aleman,  and 
Johann  Reuchlin  (1455-1522),  sharer  of 
Pico's  spirit  and  precursor  of  the  improved 
study  of  the  Scriptures  in  Europe,  made 
the  Zohar  the  basis  of  their  defence  of 
Jewish   literature  against  the   attempts  of 


ZOHAR  AND  LATER  MYSTICISM   175 


various  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  crush  and 
destroy  it. 

The  Kabbala  did  not,  however,  retain  a 
high  place  in  the  realm  of  literature.  It 
greatly  influenced  Jewish  religious  cere- 
monies, it  produced  saintly  souls,  and  from 
such  centres  as  Safed  and  Salonica  sent 
forth  men  like  Solomon  Molcho  and  Sab- 
batai  Zevi,  who  maintained  that  they  were 
Messiahs,  and  could  perform  miracles  on 
the  strength  of  Kabbalistic  powers.  But 
from  the  literary  stand-point  the  Kabbala 
was  a  barren  inspiration.  The  later  works 
of  Kabbalists  are  a  rehash  of  the  older 
works.  The  Zohar  was  the  bible  of  the 
Kabbalists,  and  the  later  works  of  the 
school  were  commentaries  on  this  bible. 
The  Zohar  had  absorbed  all  the  earlier 
Kabbalistic  literature,  such  as  the  "  Book 
of  Creation"  {Sefer  Yetsirah),  the  Book 
Raziel,  the  Alphabet  of  Rabbi  Akiba,  and 
it  was  the  final  literary  expression  of  the 
Kabbala. 


176  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

It  is,  therefore,  unnecessary  to  do  more 
than  name  one  or  two  of  the  more  noted 
Kabbalists  of  post-Zoharistic  ages.  Isaac 
Lnrya  (1534-1572)  was  a  saint,  so  devoid  of 
self-conceit  that  he  published  nothing, 
though  he  flourished  at  the  very  time  when 
the  printing-press  was  throwing  copies  of 
the  Zohar  broadcast.  We  owe  our  knowl- 
edge of  Lurya's  Kabbalistic  ideas  to  the 
prolific  writings  of  his  disciple  Chayim  Vital 
Calabrese,  who  died  in  Damascus  in  1620. 
Other  famous  Kabbalists  were  Isaiah  Hur- 
witz  (about  1570-1630),  author  of  a  much 
admired  ethical  work,  "  The  Two  Tables 
of  the  Covenant  "  (Sheloh,  as  it  is  familiarly 
called  from  the  initials  of  its  Hebrew  title) ; 
Nehemiah  Chayun  (about  1650- 1730);  and 
the  Hebrew  dramatist  Moses  Chayim 
Luzzatto  (1707- 1 747). 

A  more  recent  Kabbalistic  movement, 
led  by  the  founder  of  the  new  saints,  or 
Chassidim,  Israel  Baalshem  (about  1700- 
1772),  was  even  less  literary  than  the  one 


ZONAE  AND  LATER  MYSTICISM   \yy 

just  described.  But  the  Kabbalists,  medie- 
val and  modern,  were  meritorious  writers 
in  one  field  of  literature.  The  Kabbalists 
and  the  Chassidim  were  the  authors  of 
some  of  the  most  exquisite  prayers  and 
meditations  which  the  soul  of  the  Jew  has 
poured  forth  since  the  Psalms  were  com- 
pleted. This  redeems  the  later  Kabbal- 
istic  literature  from  the  altogether  unfavor- 
able verdict  which  would  otherwise  have 
to  be  passed  on  it. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Kabbala. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  547  [565] 
Moses  de  Leon. 

Graetz. — IV,  1. 
Zoiiar. 

A.  Neubauer. — Bahir  and  Zohar,  J.  Q.  R.,  IV,  p. 

357- 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  104. 

Isaac  Lurya. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  618  [657]. 
Sabbatai  Zevi. 

Graetz.— V,  p.  1 18  [125]. 
Chassidim. 

Graetz. — V,  9. 

Schechter. — Studies  in  Judaism,  p.  1. 

12 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


Italian  Jewish  Poetry 

Immanuel  and  Dante. — The  Machberoth. — Judah 
Romano. — Kalonymos. — The  Eben  Bochan. — 
Moses  Rieti. — Messer  Leon. 


The  course  of  Jewish  literature  in  Italy 
ran  along  the  same  lines  as  in  Spain.  The 
Italian  group  of  authors  was  less  brilliant, 
but  the  difference  was  one  of  degree,  not 
of  kind.  The  Italian  aristocracy,  like  the 
Moorish  caliphs  and  viziers,  patronized 
learning,  and  encouraged  the  Jews  in  their 
literary  ambitions. 

Yet  the  fact  that  the  inspiration  in  Spain 
came  from  Islam  and  in  Italy  from  Chris- 
tianity produced  some  consequences.  In 
Spain  the  Jews  followed  Arab  models  of 
style.  In  Italy  the  influence  of  classical 
models  was  felt  at  the  time  of  the  Renais- 
sance.    Most  noteworthy  of  all  was  the  in- 


ITALIAN  JE  WISH  POE  TR  Y         179 

debtedness  of  the  Hebrew  poets  of  Italy  to 
Dante. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  Dante  was  a 
personal  friend  of  the  most  noted  of  these 
Jewish  poets,  Immanuel,  the  son  of  Solo- 
mon of  Rome.  Like  the  other  Jews  of 
Rome,  Immanuel  stood  in  the  most 
friendly  relations  with  Christians,  for  no- 
where was  medieval  intolerance  less  felt 
than  in  the  very  seat  of  the  Pope,  the  head 
of  the  Church.  Thus,  on  the  one  hand 
Immanuel  was  a  leading  member  of  the 
synagogue,  and,  on  the  other,  he  carried 
on  a  literary  correspondence  with  learned 
Christians,  with  poets,  and  men  of  science. 
He  was  himself  a  physician,  and  his  poems 
breathe  a  scientific  spirit.  As  happened 
earlier  in  Spain,  the  circle  of  Immanuel  re- 
garded verse-making  as  part  of  the  culture 
of  a  scholar.  Witty  verses,  in  the  form  of 
riddles  and  epigrams,  were  exchanged  at 
the  meetings  of  the  circle.  With  these 
poets,   among  whom   Kalonymos  was   in- 


1 80  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

eluded,  the  penning  of  verses  was  a  fashion. 
On  the  other  hand,  music  was  not  so  much 
cultivated  by  the  Italian  Hebrews  as  by  the 
Spanish.  Hence,  both  Immanuel  and  Ka- 
lonymos  lack  the  lightness  and  melody  of 
the  best  writers  of  Hebrew  verse  in  Spain. 
The  Italians  atoned  for  this  loss  by  their 
subject-matter.  They  are  joyous  poets, 
full  of  the  gladness  of  life.  They  are  secu- 
lar, not  religious  poets;  the  best  of  the 
Spanish-Hebrew  poetry  was  devotional, 
and  the  best  of  the  Italian  so  secular  that  it 
was  condemned  by  pietists  as  too  frivolous 
and  too  much  "  disfigured  by  ill-timed  lev- 
ity." 

Immanuel  was  born  in  Rome  in  about 
1270.  He  rarely  mentions  his  father,  but 
often  names  his  mother  Justa  as  a  woman 
of  pious  and  noble  character.  As  a  youth, 
he  had  a  strong  fancy  for  scientific  study, 
and  was  nourished  on  the  "  Guide "  of 
Maimonides,  on  the  works  of  the  Greeks 
and    Arabs,    and    on    the   writings    of   the 


ITA  L I  A  X  JEW  1SH  PO  E  TRY  1 8 1 

Christian  school-men,  which  he  read  in 
Hebrew  translations.  Besides  philosophy, 
mathematics,  astronomy,  and  medicine, 
Immanuel  studied  the  Bible  and  the  Tal- 
mud, and  became  an  accomplished  scholar. 
He  was  not  born  a  poet,  but  he  read  deeply 
the  poetical  literature  of  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians, and  took  lessons  in  rhyme-making. 
He  was  wealthy,  and  his  house  was  a  ren- 
dezvous of  wits  and  scientists.  His  own 
position  in  the  Jewish  community  was  re- 
markable. It  has  already  been  said  that  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  management  of 
communal  affairs,  but  he  did  more  than 
this.  He  preached  in  the  synagogue  on 
the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  delivered  eulo- 
gistic orations  over  the  remains  of  departed 
worthies.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he 
suffered  losses  both  in  fortune  and  in 
friends,  but  he  finally  found  a  new  home 
in  Fermo,  where  he  was  cordially  wel- 
comed in  1328.  The  date  of  his  death  is 
uncertain,  but  he  died  in  about  1330. 


1 8  2  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

His  works  were  versatile  rather  than 
profound.  He  wrote  grammatical  trea- 
tises and  commentaries,  which  display 
learning  more  than  originality.  But  his 
poetical  writings  are  of  great  interest  in 
the  history  of  Jewish  literature.  He  lived 
in  the  dawn-flush  of  the  Renaissance  in 
Italy.  The  Italian  language  was  just  evolv- 
ing itself,  under  the  genius  of  Dante,  from 
a  mere  jumble  of  dialects  into  a  literary  lan- 
guage. Dante  did  for  Italy  what  Chaucer 
was  soon  after  to  do  for  England.  On  the 
one  side  influenced  by  the  Renaissance  and 
the  birth  of  the  new  Italian  language,  on 
the  other  by  the  Jewish  revival  of  letters  in 
Spain  and  Provence,  the  Italian  Jews  alone 
combined  the  Jewish  spirit  with  the  spirit 
of  the  classical  Renaissance.  Immanuel 
was  the  incarnation  of  this  complex  soul. 

This  may  be  seen  from  the  form  of  Im- 
manuel's  Machberoth,  or  "  Collection." 
The  latter  portion  of  it,  named  separately 
"  Hell  and  Eden,"  was  imitated  from  the 


IT  A  L  1. 1 X  JE I J  VS/I  FOE  TR  Y  1 83 

Christian  Dante;  the  poem  as  a  whole  was 
planned  on  Charizi's  Taclikcmoni,  a  He- 
brew development  of  the  Arabic  Divan. 
The  poet  is  not  the  hero  of  his  own  song", 
but  like  the  Arabic  poets  of  the  divan,  con- 
ceives a  personage  who  fills  the  centre  of 
the  canvas — a  personage  really  identical 
with  the  author,  yet  in  a  sense  other  than 
he.  Much  quaintness  of  effect  is  produced 
by  this  double  part  played  by  the  poet, 
who,  as  it  were,  satirizes  his  own  doings. 
In  Immanuel's  Machbcroth  there  is  much 
variety  of  romantic  incident.  But  it  is  in 
satire  that  he  reaches  his  highest  level. 
Love  and  wine  are  the  frequent  burdens  of 
his  song,  as  they  are  in  the  Provenqal  and 
Italian  poetry  of  his  day.  Immanuel  was 
something  of  a  Voltaire  in  his  jocose  treat- 
ment of  sacred  things,  and  pietists  like 
Joseph  Karo  inhibited  the  study  of  the 
Machbcroth.  Others,  too,  described  his 
songs  as  sensuous  and  his  satires  as  blas- 
phemous.     But    the    devout    and    earnest 


1 84  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

piety  of  some  of  Immanuel's  prayers, — 
some  of  them  to  be  found  in  the  MacJi- 
bcrotli  themselves — proves  that  Immanuel's 
licentiousness  and  levity  were  due,  not 
to  lack  of  reverence,  but  to  the  attempt  to 
reconcile  the  ideals  of  Italian  society  of  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance  with  the  ideals 
of  Judaism. 

Immanuel  owed  his  rhymed  prose  to 
Charizi,  but  again  he  shows  his  devotion 
to  two  masters  by  writing  Hebrew  sonnets. 
The  sonnet  was  new  then  to  Italian  verse, 
and  Immanuel's  Hebrew  specimens  thus 
belong  to  the  earliest  sonnets  written  in 
any  literature.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  to 
convey  a  just  sense  of  the  variety  of  sub- 
ject and  form  in  the  Machbcroth.  "  Seri- 
ous and  frivolous  topics  trip  each  other  by 
the  heels;  all  metrical  forms,  prayers,  ele- 
gies, passages  in  unmetrical  rhymes,  all  are 
mingled  together."  The  last  chapter  is, 
however,  of  a  different  character,  and  it  has 
often  been  printed  as  a  separate  work.     It 


ITALIAN  JE WISH  POE TRY  185 

is  the  "  Hell  and  Eden  "  to  which  allusion 
has  already  been  made. 

The  link  between  Immanuel  and  his 
Provencal  contemporary  Kalonymos  was 
supplied  by  Judah  Romano,  the  Jewish 
school-man.  All  three  were  in  the  service 
of  the  king  of  Naples.  Kalonymos  was 
the  equal  of  Romano  as  a  philosopher  and 
not  much  below  Immanuel  as  a  satirist. 
He  was  a  more  fertile  poet  than  Immanuel, 
for,  while  Immanuel  remained  the  sole  rep- 
resentative of  his  manner,  Kalonymos  gave 
birth  to  a  whole  school  of  imitators.  Ka- 
lonymos wrote  many  translations,  of  Galen, 
Averroes,  Aristotle,  al-Farabi,  Ptolemy, 
and  Archimedes.  But  it  was  his  keen  wit 
more  than  his  learning  that  made  him  pop- 
ular in  Rome,  and  impelled  the  Jews  of  that 
city,  headed  by  Immanuel,  to  persuade 
Kalonymos  to  settle  permanently  in  Italy. 
Kalonymos'  two  satirical  poems  were 
called  "The  Touchstone"  (Ebcn  Bochan) 
and  "The  Purim  Tractate."     These  satir- 


1 86  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

ize  the  customs  and  social  habits  of  the 
Jews  of  his  day  in  a  bright  and  powerful 
style.  In  his  Purim  Tractate,  Kalonymos 
parodies  the  style,  logic,  and  phraseology 
of  the  Talmud,  and  his  work  was  the  fore- 
runner of  a  host  of  similar  parodies. 

There  were  many  Italian  writers  of 
Piyutim,  i.  e.  Synagogue  hymns,  but  these 
were  mediocre  in  merit.  The  elegies  writ- 
ten in  lament  for  the  burning  of  the  Law 
and  the  martyrdoms  endured  in  various 
parts  of  Italy  were  the  only  meritorious 
devotional  poems  composed  in  Hebrew  in 
that  country.  Italy  remained  famous  in 
Hebrew  poetry  for  secular,  not  for  reli- 
gious compositions.  In  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury Moses  Rieti  (born  1389,  died  later 
than  1452)  imitated  Dante  once  more  in 
his  "  Lesser  Sanctuary  "  (Mikdash  Meat). 
Here  again  may  be  noticed  a  feature  pecu- 
liar to  Italian  Hebrew  poetry.  Rieti  uses 
regular  stanzas,  Italian  forms  of  verse,  in 
this  matter  following  the  example  of  Im- 


ITALIAN  JEWISH  POETR  Y  1 87 

manuel.  Messer  Leon,  a  physician  of 
Mantua,  wrote  a  treatise  on  Biblical  rhet- 
oric (1480).  Again,  the  only  important 
writer  of  dramas  in  Hebrew  was,  as  we 
shall  see,  an  Italian  Jew,  who  copied  Italian 
models.  Though,  therefore,  the  Hebrew 
poetry  of  Italy  scarcely  reaches  the  front 
rank,  it  is  historically  of  first-rate  import- 
ance. It  represents  the  only  effects  of  the 
Renaissance  on  Jewish  literature.  In  other 
countries,  the  condition  of  the  Jews  was 
such  that  they  were  shut  off  from  external 
influences.  Their  literature  suffered  as 
their  lives  did  from  imprisonment  within 
the  Ghettos,  which  were  erected  both  by 
the  Jews  themselves  and  by  the  govern- 
ments of  Europe. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

S.   Morais. — Italian  Jewish  Literature  (Publications  of 
the  Grats  College,  Vol.  I). 

Immanuel  and  Kalonymos. 
Graetz.— IV,  p.  61  [66]. 
J.  Chotzner. — Immanuel  di  Romi,  I.  Q.  R.,  IV,  p.  64. 


1 88  JE  WISH  LITERA  TURE 

G.  Sacerdote. — Emanuclc  da  Roma's  Ninth  Mehabbc- 
rcth,  J.  Q.  R.,  VII,  p.  711. 

Judah  (Leone)  Romano. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  68  [73]- 
Moses  Rieti. 

Graetz. — IV,  p.  230  [249]. 
Messer  Leon. 

Graetz. — IV,  p.  289  [311]. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Ethical  Literature 

Bachya  Ibn  Pekuda. — Choboth  ha-Lebaboth. — Sefer 
ha-Chassidim. — Rokeach. — Yedaiah  Bedaressi's 
Bechinath  Olam. — Isaac  Aboab's  Menorath  ha- 
Maor. — Ibn  Chabib's  "Eye  of  Jacob."— Zevaoth, 
or  Ethical  Wills. — Joseph  Ibn  Caspi. — Solomon 
Alami. 

A  large  proportion  of  all  Hebrew  books 
is  ethical.  Many  of  the  works  already 
treated  here  fall  under  this  category.  The 
Talmudical,  exegetical,  and  philosophical 
writings  of  Jews  were  also  ethical  treatises. 
In  this  chapter,  however,  attention  will  be 
restricted  to  a  few  books  which  are  in  a 
special  sense  ethical. 

Collections  of  moral  proverbs,  such  as 
the  "  Choice  of  Pearls,"  attributed  to  Ibn 
Gebirol,  and  the  "  Maxims  of  the  Philoso- 
phers "  by  Charizi,  were  great  favorites  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  They  had  a  distinct 
charm,  but  they  were  not  original.     They 


1 90  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

were  either  compilations  from  older  books 
or  direct  translations  from  the  Arabic.  It 
was  far  otherwise  with  the  ethical  work 
entitled  "  Heart  Duties "  (Choboth  ha- 
Lebaboth),  by  Bachya  Ibn  Pekuda  (about 
1050-1100).  This  was  as  original  as  it  was 
forcible.  Bachya  founded  his  ethical  sys- 
tem on  the  Talmud  and  on  the  philosophi- 
cal notions  current  in  his  day,  but  he 
evolved  out  of  these  elements  an  original 
view  of  life.  The  inner  duties  dictated  by 
conscience  were  set  above  all  conventional 
morality.  Bachya  probed  the  very  heart 
of  religion.  His  soul  was  filled  with  God, 
and  this  communion,  despite  the  ascetic 
feelings  to  which  it  gave  rise,  was  to 
Bachya  an  exceeding  joy.  His  book  thrills 
the  reader  with  the  author's  own  chastened 
enthusiasm.  The  "  Heart  Duties "  of 
Bachya  is  the  most  inspired  book  written 
by  a  Jew  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  part  worthy  of  a  place  by  the  side  of 
Bachya's  treatise  is  an  ethical  book  written 


ETHICAL  LITERATURE  191 

in  the  Rhinelands  during-  the  thirteenth 
century.  "  The  Book  of  the  Pious  "  (Sefer 
ha-Chassidim)  is  mystical,  and  in  course  of 
time  superstitious  elements  were  interpo- 
lated. Wrongly  attributed  to  a  single 
writer,  Judah  Chassid,  the  "  Book  of  the 
Pious  "  was  really  the  combined  product 
of  the  Jewish  spirit  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. It  is  a  conglomerate  of  the  sublime 
and  the  trivial,  the  purely  ethical  with  the 
ceremonial.  With  this  popular  and  re- 
markable book  may  be  associated  other 
conglomerates  of  the  ritual,  the  ethical, 
and  the  mystical,  as  the  RokcacJi  by  Eleazar 
of  Worms. 

A  simpler  but  equally  popular  work  was 
Yedaiah  Bedaressi's  "  Examination  of  the 
World  "  (Bcchiiiath  Olam),  written  in 
about  the  year  13 10.  Its  style  is  florid 
but  poetical,  and  the  many  quaint  turns 
which  it  gives  to  quotations  from  the  Bible 
remind  the  reader  of  Ibn  Gebirol.  Its  ear- 
nest appeal  to  man  to  aim  at  the  higher 


192  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

life,  its  easily  intelligible  and  commonplace 
morals,  endeared  it  to  the  "general  reader" 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  Few  books  have 
been  more  often  printed,  few  more  often 
translated. 

Another  favorite  class  of  ethical  books 
consisted  of  compilations  made  direct  from 
the  Talmud  and  the  Midrash.  The  oldest 
and  most  prized  of  these  was  Isaac  Aboab's 
"  Lamp  of  Light "  (Menorath  ha-Maor). 
It  was  an  admirably  written  book,  clearly 
arranged,  and  full  to  the  brim  of  ethical 
gems.  Aboab's  work  was  written  between 
13 10  and  1320.  It  is  arranged  according 
to  subjects,  differing  in  this  respect  from 
another  very  popular  compilation,  Jacob 
Ibn  Chabib's  "  Eye  of  Jacob  "  (En  Yaakob), 
which  was  completed  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. In  this,  the  Hagadic  passages  of  the 
Talmud  are  extracted  without  arrange- 
ment, the  order  of  the  Talmud  itself  being 
retained.  The  "  Eye  of  Jacob "  was  an 
extremely  popular  work. 


E  THIC.  XL  LI  TERj  I  Tl  rR E  1 93 

Of  the  purely  devotional  literature  of 
Judaism,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  here. 
One  other  ethical  book  must  be  here  no- 
ticed, for  it  has  attained  wide  and  deserved 
popularity.  This  is  the  "  Path  of  the  Up- 
right "  (Messilath  Yesharim)  by  Moses 
Chayim  Luzzatto,  of  whom  more  will  be 
said  in  a  later  chapter.  But  a  little  more 
space  must  be  here  devoted  to  a  species  of 
ethical  tract  which  was  peculiar  to  Jewish 
moralists.  These  tracts  were  what  are 
known  as  Ethical  Wills. 

These  Ethical  Wills  (Zevaoth)  contained 
the  express  directions  of  fathers  to  their 
children  or  of  aged  teachers  to  their  dis- 
ciples. They  were  for  the  most  part  writ- 
ten calmly  in  old  age,  but  not  immediately 
before  the  writers'  death.  Some  of  them 
were  very  carefully  composed,  and  amount 
to  formal  ethical  treatises.  But  in  the 
main  they  are  charmingly  natural  and  un- 
affected. They  were  intended  for  the  ab- 
solutely private  use  of  children   and   rela- 

13 


1 94  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

tives,  or  of  some  beloved  pupil  who  held 
the  dearest  place  in  his  master's  regard. 
They  were  not  designed  for  publication, 
and  thus,  as  the  writer  had  no  reason  to 
expect  that  his  words  would  pass  beyond  a 
limited  circle,  the  Ethical  Will  is  a  clear 
revelation  of  his  innermost  feelings  and 
ideals.  Intellectually  some  of  these  Ethical 
Wills  are  poor;  morally,  however,  the  gen- 
eral level  is  very  high. 

Addresses  of  parents  to  their  children 
occur  in  the  Bible,  the  Apocrypha,  and  the 
Rabbinical  literature.  But  the  earliest  ex- 
tant Ethical  Will  written  as  an  independent 
document  is  that  of  Eleazar,  the  son  of 
Isaac  of  Worms  (about  1050),  who  must 
not  be  confused  with  the  author  of  the 
RokcacJi.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 
turies supply  few  examples  of  the  Ethical 
Will,  but  from  the  thirteenth  century  on- 
wards there  is  a  plentiful  array  of  them. 
'"  Think  not  of  evil,"  says  Eleazar  of 
Worms,    "  for   evil   thinking  leads   to   evil 


E  THICA L  LITER,  1  77  A' /.'  [95 

doing.  .  .  .  Purify  thy  body,  the  dwelling- 
place  of  thy  soul.  .  .  .  Give  of  all  thy  food 
a  portion  to  God.  Let  God's  portion  be 
the  best,  and  give  it  to  the  poor."  The 
will  of  the  translator  Judah  Ibn  Tibbon 
(about  1 190)  contains  at  least  one  passage 
worthy  of  Ruskin :  "  Avoid  bad  society, 
make  thy  books  thy  companions,  let  thy 
book-cases  and  shelves  be  thy  gardens  and 
pleasure-grounds.  Pluck  the  fruit  that 
grows  therein,  gather  the  roses,  the  spices, 
and  the  myrrh.  If  thy  soul  be  satiate  and 
weary,  change  from  garden  to  garden, 
from  furrow  to  furrow,  from  sight  to  sight. 
Then  will  thy  desire  renew  itself,  and  thy 
soul  be  satisfied  with  delight."  The  will 
of  Nachmanides  is  an  unaffected  eulogy  of 
humility.  Asher,  the  son  of  Yechiel  (four- 
teenth century),  called  his  will  "  Ways  of 
Life,"  and  it  includes  132  maxims,  which 
are  often  printed  in  the  prayer-book.  "  Do 
not  obey  the  Law  for  reward,  nor  avoid  sin 
from   fear   of  punishment,   but   serve   God 


1 96  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

from  love.  Sleep  not  over-much,  but  rise 
with  the  birds.  Be  not  over-hasty  to  reply 
to  offensive  remarks;  raise  not  thy  hand 
against  another,  even  if  he  curse  thy  father 
or  mother  in  thy  presence." 

Some  of  these  wills,  like  that  of  the  son 
of  the  last  mentioned,  are  written  in 
rhymed  prose;  some  are  controversial. 
Joseph  Ibn  Caspi  writes  in  1322:  "How 
can  I  know  God,  and  that  he  is  one,  unless 
I  know  what  knowing-  means,  and  what 
constitutes  unity?  Why  should  these 
things  be  left  to  non-Jewish  philosophers? 
Why  should  Aristotle  retain  sole  posses- 
sion of  the  treasures  that  he  stole  from 
Solomon?"  The  belief  that  Aristotle  had 
visited  Jerusalem  with  Alexander  the 
Great,  and  there  obtained  possession  of 
Solomon's  wisdom,  was  one  of  the  most 
curious  myths  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
will  of  Eleazar  the  Levite  of  Mainz 
(I357)  is  a  simple  document,  without  lit- 
erary merit,  but  containing  a  clear  exposi- 


ETHICAL  LITERATURE  [97 

tion  of  duty.  "  Judge  every  man  charita- 
bly, and  use  your  best  efforts  to  find  a 
kindly  explanation  of  conduct,  however 
suspicious.  .  .  .  Give  in  charity  an  exact 
tithe  of  your  property.  Never  turn  a  poor 
man  away  empty-handed.  Talk  no  more 
than  is  necessary,  and  thus  avoid  slander. 
Be  not  as  dumb  cattle  that  utter  no  word 
of  gratitude,  but  thank  God  for  his  boun- 
ties at  the  time  at  which  they  occur,  and 
in  your  prayers  let  the  memory  of  these 
personal  favors  warm  your  hearts,  and 
prompt  you  to  special  fervor  during-  the 
utterance  of  the  communal  thanks  for  com- 
munal well-being.  When  words  of  thanks 
occur  in  the  liturgy,  pause  and  silently  re- 
flect on  the  goodness  of  God  to  you  that 
day." 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  simplicity  of 
the  foregoing  is  the  elaborate  "  Letter  of 
Advice"  by  Solomon  Alami  (beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century).  It  is  composed  in 
beautiful  rhymed  prose,  and  is  an   import- 


1 98  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

ant  historical  record.  For  the  author 
shared  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  of  the 
Iberian  peninsula  in  1391,  and  this  gives 
pathetic  point  to  his  counsel :  "  Flee  with- 
out hesitation  when  exile  is  the  only  means 
of  securing  religious  freedom;  have  no  re- 
gard to  your  worldly  career  or  your  prop- 
erty, but  go  at  once." 

It  is  needless  to  indicate  fully  the  nature 
of  the  Ethical  Wills  of  the  sixteenth  and 
subsequent  centuries.  They  are  closely 
similar  to  the  foregoing,  but  they  tend  to 
become  more  learned  and  less  simple.  Yet, 
though  as  literature  they  are  often  quite 
insignificant,  as  ethics  they  rarely  sink  be- 
low mediocrity. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Ethical  Literature. 
Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  pp.  100,  232. 
B.    H.    Ascher. — Choice    of    Pearls    (with    English 

translation,  London,   1859). 
D.  Rosin. — Ethics  of  Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol,  J.  Q.  R., 
HI.  p.  159. 
Bachya. 

Graetz,  III,  p.  271. 


E  THICAL  LITER  A  77  R  E  1 99 

Yedaya  Bedaressi. 
Graetz.— IV,  p.  42  [45]. 
J.  Chotzner.— /.  0.  R.,  VIII.  p.  4M- 
T.    Goodman. — English    translation    of    Bccliinath 
Olam  (London,  1830). 

Ethical  Wills. 

Edelmann. — The  Path  of  Good  Men  (London,  1852). 
I.  Abrahams,  /.  Q.  R.,  Ill,  p.  436. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Travellers'  Tales 

Eldad  the  Danitc— Benjamin  of  Tudela.— Petachiah 
of  Ratisbon. — Esthori  Parchi. — Abraham  Faris- 
sol. — David  Reubeni  and  Molcho. — Antonio  de 
Montesinos  and  Manasseh  ben  Israel. — Tobiah 
Cohen. — Wessely. 

The  voluntary  and  enforced  travels  of 
the  Jews  produced,  from  the  earliest  period 
after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  an  ex- 
tensive, if  fragmentary,  geographical  liter- 
ature. In  the  Talmud  and  later  religious 
books,  in  the  Letters  of  the  Gaonim,  in 
the  correspondence  of  Jewish  ambassadors, 
in  the  autobiographical  narratives  inter- 
spersed in  the  works  of  all  Jewish  scholars 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  the  A  ruck,  or  Tal- 
mudical  Lexicon,  of  Nathan  of  Rome,  in 
the  satirical  romances  of  the  poetical  globe- 
trotters, Zabara  and  Charizi,  and,  finally, 
in  the  Bible  commentaries  written  by  Jews, 


TRAVELLERS'    TALES  201 

many  geographical  notes  arc  to  be  found. 
But  the  composition  of  complete  works 
dedicated  to  travel  and  exploration  dates 
only  from  the  twelfth  century. 

Before  that  time,  however,  interest  in 
the  whereabouts  of  the  Lost  Ten  Tribes 
gave  rise  to  a  book  which  has  been  well 
called  the  Arabian  Nights  of  the  Jews. 
The  "  Diary  of  Eldad  the  Danite,"  written 
in  about  the  year  880,  was  a  popular  ro- 
mance, to  which  additions  and  alterations 
were  made  at  various  periods.  This  diary 
tells  of  mighty  Israelite  empires,  especially 
of  the  tribe  of  Moses,  the  peoples  of  which 
were  all  virtuous,  all  happy,  and  long-lived. 

"  A  river  flows  round  their  land  for  a  distance 
of  four  days'  journey  on  every  side.  They  dwell 
in  beautiful  houses  provided  with  handsome 
towers,  which  they  have  built  themselves.  There 
is  nothing  unclean  among  them,  neither  in  the 
case  of  birds,  venison,  nor  domesticated  ani- 
mals; there  are  no  wild  beasts,  no  flies,  no  foxes, 
no  vermin,  no  serpents,  no  dogs,  and,  in  general, 
nothing  that  does  harm;  they  have  only  sheep  and 
cattle,  which  bear  twice  a  year.  They  sow  and 
reap,  they  have  all  kinds  of  gardens  with  all  kinds 


202  JEWISH  LITERA  TURE 

of  fruits  and  cereals,  beans,  melons,  gourds,  onions, 
garlic,  wheat,  and  barley,  and  the  seed  grows  a 
hundredfold.  They  have  faith;  they  know  the  Law, 
the  Mishnah,  the  Talmud,  and  the  Hagadah.  .  .  . 
No  child,  be  it  son  or  daughter,  dies  during  the 
life-time  of  its  parents,  but  they  reach  a  third  and 
fourth  generation.  They  do  all  the  field-work  them- 
selves, having  no  male  nor  female  servants.  They 
do  not  close  their  houses  at  night,  for  there  is  no 
thief  or  evil-doer  among  them.  They  have  plenty 
of  gold  and  silver;  they  sow  flax,  and  cultivate  the 
crimson-worm,  and  make  beautiful  garments.  .  .  . 
The  river  Sambatyon  is  two  hundred  yards  broad, 
about  as  far  as  a  bow-shot.  It  is  full  of  sand  and 
stones,  but  without  water;  the  stones  make  a  great 
noise,  like  the  waves  of  the  sea  and  a  stormy  wind, 
so  that  in  the  night  the  noise  is  heard  at  a  distance 
of  half  a  day's  journey.  There  are  fish  in  it,  and  all 
kinds  of  clean  birds  fly  round  it.  And  this  river 
of  stone  and  sand  rolls  during  the  six  working-days, 
and  rests  on  the  Sabbath  day.  As  soon  as  the 
Sabbath  begins,  fire  surrounds  the  river,  and  the 
flames  remain  till  the  next  evening,  when  the  Sab- 
bath ends.  Thus  no  human  being  can  reach  the 
river  for  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  on  either  side; 
the  fire  consumes  all  that  grows  there." 

With  wild  rapture  the  Jews  of  the  ninth 
century  heard  of  these  prosperous  and 
powerful  kingdoms.  Hopes  of  a  restora- 
tion to  former  dignity  encouraged  them  to 
believe  in  the  mythical  narrative  of  Eldad, 


TRAVELLERS'    TALES  203 

It  is  doubtful  whether  he  was  a  bona  fide 
traveller.  At  all  events,  his  book  includes 
much  that  became  the  legendary  property 
of  all  peoples  in  the  Middle  Ages,  such  as 
the  fable  of  the  mighty  Christian  Emperor 
of  India,  Prester  John. 

Some  further  account  of  this  semi-myth- 
ical monarch  is  contained  in  the  first  real 
Jewish  traveller's  book,  the  "  Itinerary  "  of 
Benjamin  of  Tudela.  This  Benjamin  was 
a  merchant,  who,  in  the  year  1160,  started 
on  a  long  journey,  which  was  prompted 
partly  by  commercial,  partly  by  scientific 
motives.  He  visited  a  large  part  of  Europe 
and  Asia,  went  to  Jerusalem  and  Bagdad, 
and  gives  in  his  "  Itinerary  "  some  remark- 
able geographical  facts  and  some  equally 
remarkable  fables.  He  tells,  for  instance, 
the  story  of  the  pretended  Messiah,  David 
Alroy,  whom  Disraeli  made  the  hero  of  one 
of  his  romances.  Benjamin  of  Tudela's 
"  Itinerary  "  was  a  real  contribution  to  geo- 
graphy. 


204  JE 1 1  'ISH  LITER  A  TURK 

Soon  after  Benjamin,  another  Jew,  Pe- 
tachiah  of  Ratisbon,  set  out  on  a  similar 
but  less  extended  tour,  which  occupied 
him  during  the  years  1179  and  1180.  His 
"  Travels  "  are  less  informing  than  those  of 
his  immediate  predecessor,  but  his  descrip- 
tions of  the  real  or  reputed  sepulchres  of 
ancient  worthies  and  his  account  of  the 
Jewish  College  in  Bagdad  are  full  of  ro- 
mantic interest,  which  was  not  lessened  for 
medieval  readers  because  much  of  Peta- 
chiah's  narrative  was  legendary. 

A  far  more  important  work  was  written 
by  the  first  Jewish  explorer  of  Palestine, 
Esthori  Parchi,  a  contemporary  of  Mande- 
ville.  His  family  originated  in  Florenza, 
in  Andalusia,  and  the  family  name  Parchi 
(the  Flower)  was  derived  from  this  cir- 
cumstance. Esthori  was  himself  born  in 
Provence,  and  was  a  student  of  science  as 
well  as  of  the  Talmud.  When  he,  together 
with  the  rest  of  the  Jews  of  France,  was 
exiled  in   1306,  he  wandered  to  Spain  and 


TRAVELLERS'    TALES  205 

Egypt  until  the  attraction  of  the  Holy 
Land  proved  irresistible.  His  manner  was 
careful,  and  his  love  of  accuracy  unusual 
for  his  day.  Hence,  he  was  not  content  to 
collect  all  ancient  and  contemporary  refer- 
ences to  the  sites  of  Palestine.  For  seven 
years  he  devoted  himself  to  a  personal  ex- 
ploration of  the  country,  two  years  being 
passed  in  Galilee.  In  1322  he  completed 
his  work,  which  he  called  Kaphtor  va- 
Pherach  (Bunch  and  Flower)  in  allusion  to 
his  own  name. 

Access  to  the  Holy  Land  became  easier 
for  Jews  in  the  fourteenth  century.  Before 
that  time  the  city  of  Jerusalem  had  for  a 
considerable  period  been  barred  to  Jewish 
pilgrims.  By  the  laws  of  Constantine  and 
of  Omar  no  Jew  might  enter  within  the 
precincts  of  his  ancient  capital.  Even  in 
the  centuries  subsequent  to  Omar,  such 
pilgrimages  were  fraught  with  danger,  but 
the  poems  of  Jehuda  Ilalevi,  the  tolerance 
of  Islam,  and  the  reputation  of  Northern 


206  JEWISH  LITERATURE 


Syria  as  a  centre  of  the  Kabbala,  combined 
to  draw  many  Jews  to  Palestine.  Many 
letters  and  narratives  were  the  results.  One 
characteristic  specimen  must  suffice.  In 
1488  Obadiah  of  Bertinoro,  author  of  the 
most  popular  commentary  on  the  Mishnah, 
removed  from  Italy  to  Jerusalem,  where 
he  was  appointed  Rabbi.  In  a  letter  to  his 
father  he  gives  an  intensely  moving  ac- 
count of  his  voyage  and  of  the  state  of 
Hebron  and  Zion.  The  narrative  is  full  of 
personal  detail,  and  is  marked  throughout 
by  deep  love  for  his  father,  which  strug- 
gles for  the  mastery  with  his  love  for  the 
Holy  City. 

A  more  ambitious  work  was  the  "  Itin- 
era Mundi  "  of  Abraham  Farissol,  written 
in  the  autumn  of  1524.  This  treatise  was 
based  upon  original  researches  as  well  as 
on  the  works  of  Christian  and  Arabian 
geographers.  He  incidentally  says  a  good 
deal  about  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in 
various   parts   of   the   world.     Indeed,   al- 


TRAVELLERS'    TALES  20J 

most  all  the  geographical  writings  of  Jews 
are  social  histories  of  their  brethren  in 
faith.  Somewhat  later,  David  Reubeni 
published  some  strange  stories  as  to  the 
Jews.  He  went  to  Rome,  where  he  made 
a  considerable  sensation,  and  was  received 
by  Pope  Clement  VII  (1523- 1534).  Dwarf- 
ish in  stature  and  dark  in  complexion, 
David  Reubeni  was  wasted  by  continual 
fasting,  but  his  manner,  though  harsh  and 
forbidding,  was  intrepid  and  awe-inspiring. 
His  outrageous  falsehoods  for  a  time  found 
ready  acceptance  with  Jews  and  Christians 
alike,  and  his  fervid  Messianism  won  over 
to  his  cause  many  Marranos — Jews  who 
had  been  forced  by  the  Inquisition  in  Spain 
to  assume  the  external  garb  of  Christianity. 
His  chief  claim  on  the  memory  of  posterity 
was  his  connection  with  the  dramatic 
career  of  Solomon  Molcho  (1 501-1532),  a 
youth  noble  in  mind  and  body,  who  at 
Reubeni's  instigation  personated  the  Mes- 
siah, and  in  early  manhood  died  a  martyr's 


208  JE  WISH  LITER  A  Tl  A'  E 


death  amid  the  flames  of  the  Inquisition  at 
Mantua. 

The  geographical  literature  of  the  Jews 
did  not  lose  its  association  with  Messianic 
hopes.  Antonio  de  Montesinos,  in  1642, 
imagined  that  he  had  discovered  in  South 
America  the  descendants  of  the  Ten 
Tribes.  He  had  been  led  abroad  by  busi- 
ness considerations  and  love  of  travel,  and 
in  Brazil  came  across  a  mestizo  Indian, 
from  whose  statements  he  conceived  the 
firm  belief  that  the  Ten  Tribes  resided  and 
thrived  in  Brazil.  Two  years  later  he  vis- 
ited Amsterdam,  and,  his  imagination 
aflame  with  the  hopes  which  had  not  been 
stifled  by  several  years'  endurance  of  the 
prisons  and  tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  per- 
suaded Manasseh  ben  Israel  to  accept  his 
statements.  On  his  death-bed  in  Brazil, 
Montesinos  reiterated  his  assertions,  and 
Manasseh  ben  Israel  not  only  founded 
thereon  his  noted  book,  "  The  Hope  of 
Israel,"  but  under  the  inspiration  of  simi- 


TRAVELLERS'    TALES  209 

lar  ideas  felt  impelled  to  visit  London,  and 
win  from  Cromwell  the  right  of  the  Jews 
to  resettle  in  England. 

Jewish  geographical  literature  grew 
apace  in  the  eighteenth  century.  A  famous 
book,  the  "  Work  of  Tobiah,"  was  written 
at  the  beginning  of  this  period  by  Tobiah 
Cohen,  who  was  born  at  Metz  in  1652, 
and  died  in  Jerusalem  in  1729.  It  is  a 
medley  of  science  and  fiction,  an  encyclo- 
pedia dealing  with  all  branches  of  knowl- 
edge. He  had  studied  at  the  Universities 
of  Frankfort  and  Padua,  had  enjoyed  the 
patronage  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
and  his  medical  knowledge  won  him  many 
distinguished  patients  in  Constantinople. 
Thus  his  work  contains  many  medical 
chapters  of  real  value,  and  he  gives  one  of 
the  earliest  accounts  of  recently  discovered 
drugs  and  medicinal  plants.  Among  other 
curiosities  he  maintained  that  he  had  dis- 
covered the  Pygmies. 

From  this  absorbing  but  confusing  book 


2IO  JEWISH  LITERATURE 

our  survey  must  turn  finally  to  N.  H.  Wes- 
sely,  who  in  1782  for  the  first  time  main- 
tained the  importance  of  the  study  of  geo- 
graphy in  Jewish  school  education.  The 
works  of  the  past,  with  their  consoling 
legends  and  hopes,  continued  to  hold  a 
place  in  the  heart  of  Jewish  readers.  But 
from  Wessely's  time  onwards  a  long  series 
of  Jewish  explorers  and  travellers  have 
joined  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  opened 
up  for  modern  times  a  real  knowledge  of 

the  globe. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  80. 

A.  Neubauer.— Series  of  Articles  entitled  Where  are 

the  Ten  Tribes,  J.  Q.  R.,  Vol.  I. 
Benjamin  of  Tudela. 

A.    Asher. — The   Itinerary   of  Benjamin   of    Tudela 
(with  English  translation  and  appendix  by  Zunz. 
London,  1840-1). 
Petachiah  of  Ratisbon. 

A.  Benisch.— Travels  of  Petachia  of  Ratisbon  (with 
English  translation.     London,  1856). 
Abraham  Farissol. 

Graetz  —  IV,  p.  413  [44°]. 
David  Reubeni. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  491  [523]- 
H.  Wessely. 

Graetz.— V,  p.  366  [388]. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Historians  and  Chroniclers 

Order  of  the  Tannaim  and  Amoraim. — Achimaaz. — 
Abraham  Ihn  Daud. — Josippon. — Historical  Ele- 
gies, or  Selichoth. — Memorial  Books. — Abraham 
Zacuto. — Elijah  Kapsali. — Usque.— Ibn  Verga. — 
Joseph  Cohen. — David  Gans. — Gedaliah  Ibn 
Yachya. — Azariah  di  Rossi. 

The  historical  books  to  be  found  in  the 
Bible,  the  Apocrypha,  and  the  Hellenistic 
literature  prove  that  the  Hebrew  genius 
was  not  unfitted  for  the  presentation  of  the 
facts  of  Jewish  life.  These  older  works,  as 
well  as  the  writings  of  Josephus,  also  show 
a  faculty  for  placing  local  records  in  rela- 
tion to  the  wider  facts  of  general  history. 
After  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  however, 
the  local  was  the  only  history  in  which  the 
Jews  could  bear  a  part.  The  Jews  read 
history  as  a  mere  commentary  on  their 
own  fate,  and  hence  they  were  unable  to 
take  the  wide  outlook  into  the  world  re- 


212  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

quired  for  the  compilation  of  objective  his- 
tories. Thus,  in  their  aim  to  find  religious 
consolation  for  their  sufferings  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  the  Jewish  historians  sought 
rather  to  trace  the  hand  of  Providence  than 
to  analyze  the  human  causes  of  the  changes 
in  the  affairs  of  mankind. 

But  in  another  sense  the  Jews  were  es- 
sentially gifted  with  the  historical  spirit. 
The  great  men  of  Israel  were  not  local 
heroes.  Just  as  Plutarch's  Lives  were  part 
of  the  history  of  the  world's  politics,  so 
Jewish  biographies  of  learned  men  were 
part  of  the  history  of  the  world's  civiliza- 
tion. With  the  "  Order  of  the  Tannaim 
and  Amoraim "  (written  about  the  year 
noo)  begins  a  series  of  such  biographical 
works,  in  which  more  appreciation  of  sober 
fact  is  displayed  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  period.  In  the  same  way 
the  famous  Letter  of  Sherira  Gaon  on  the 
compilation  of  the  Rabbinical  literature 
(980)  marked  great  progress  in  the  critical 


HISTORIANS  AND  CHR  ONICLERS   2 1 3 

examination  of  historical  problems.     Later 
works  did  not  maintain  the  same  level. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  Jewish  histories 
mostly  took  the  form  of  uncritical  Chroni- 
cles, which  included  legends  and  traditions 
as  well  as  assured  facts.  Their  interest 
and  importance  lie  in  the  personal  and 
communal  details  with  which  they  abound. 
Sometimes  they  are  confessedly  local.  This 
is  the  case  with  the  "  Chronicle  of  Achi- 
maaz,"  written  by  him  in  1055  in  rhymed 
prose.  In  an  entertaining  style,  he  tells  of 
the  early  settlements  of  the  Jews  in  South- 
ern Italy,  and  throws  much  light  on  the 
intercommunication  between  the  scattered 
Jewish  congregations  of  his  time.  A 
larger  canvas  was  filled  by  Abraham  Ibn 
Daud,  the  physician  and  philosopher  who 
was  born  in  Toledo  in  1  1  10,  and  met  a 
martyr's  end  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His 
"  Book  of  Tradition  "  (Scfcr  ha-Kabbalah), 
written  in  1161,  was  designed  to  present, 
in  opposition  to  the  Karaites,  the  chain  of 


214  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Jewish  tradition  as  a  series  of  unbroken 
links  from  the  age  of  Moses  to  Ibn  Daud's 
own  times.  Starting  with  the  Creation, 
his  history  ends  with  the  anti-Karaitic 
crusade  of  Judah  Ibn  Ezra  in  Granada 
(1150).  Abraham  Ibn  Daud  shows  in  this 
work  considerable  critical  power,  but  in 
his  two  other  histories,  one  dealing  with 
the  history  of  Rome  from  its  foundation  to 
the  time  of  King  Reccared  in  Spain,  the 
other  a  narrative  of  the  history  of  the  Jews 
during  the  Second  Temple,  the  author  re- 
lied entirely  on  "  Josippon."  This  was  a 
medieval  concoction  which  long  passed  as 
the  original  Josephus.  "  Josippon  "  was 
a  romance  rather  than  a  history.  Culled 
from  all  sources,  from  Strabo,  Lucian,  and 
Eusebius,  as  well  as  from  Josephus,  this 
marvellous  book  exercised  strong  influence 
on  the  Jewish  imagination,  and  supplied 
an  antidote  to  the  tribulations  of  the  pres- 
ent by  the  consolations  of  the  past  and  the 
vivid  hopes  for  the  future. 


HIS  TOR  I  A  NS  A  XD  CHR  OXICLERS   2  I  5 

For  a  long  period  Abraham  Ibn  Daud 
found  no  imitators.  Jewish  history  was 
written  as  part  of  the  Jewish  religion.  Yet, 
incidentally,  many  historical  passages  were 
introduced  in  the  works  of  Jewish  scholars 
and  travellers,  and  the  liturgy  was  enriched 
by  many  beautiful  historical  Elegies,  which 
were  a  constant  call  to  heroism  and  fidelity. 
These  Elegies,  or  SclicJwth,  were  com- 
posed throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
their  passionate  outpourings  of  lamenta- 
tion and  trust  give  them  a  high  place  in 
Jewish  poetry.  They  are  also  important 
historically,  and  fully  justify  the  fine  utter- 
ance with  which  Zunz  introduces  them,  an 
utterance  which  was  translated  by  George 
Eliot  as  follows: 

If  there  are  ranks  in  suffering,  Israel  takes  pre- 
cedence of  all  the  nations — if  the  duration  of  sor- 
rows and  the  patience  with  which  they  are  borne 
ennoble,  the  Jews  are  among  the  aristocracy  of 
every  land — if  a  literature  is  called  rich  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  few  classic  tragedies,  what  shall  we  say 
to  a  National  Tragedy  lasting  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  in  which  the  poets  and  the  actors  were  also 
the  heroes? 


2 1 6  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

The  story  of  the  medieval  section  of  this 
pathetic  martyrdom  is  written  in  the  Seli- 
dwth  and  in  the  more  prosaic  records 
known  as  "  Memorial  Books  "  (in  German, 
Memorbiicher),  which  are  lists  of  martyrs 
and  brief  eulogies  of  their  careers. 

For  the  next  formal  history  we  must  pass 
to  Abraham  Zacuto.  In  his  old  age  he 
employed  some  years  of  comparative  quiet, 
after  a  stormy  and  unhappy  life,  in  writing 
a  "  Book  of  Genealogies  "  (Yuchasin).  He 
had  been  exiled  from  Spain  in  1492,  and 
twelve  years  later  composed  his  historical 
work  in  Tunis.  Like  Abraham  Ibn  Daud's 
book,  it  opens  with  the  Creation,  and  ends 
with  the  author's  own  day.  Though  Za- 
cuto's  work  is  more  celebrated  than  histor- 
ical, it  nevertheless  had  an  important  share 
in  rea waking  the  dormant  interest  of  Jews 
in  historical  research.  Thus  we  find  Elijah 
Kapsali  of  Candia  writing,  in  1523,  a  "  His- 
tory of  the  Ottoman  Empire,"  and  Joseph 
Cohen,  of  Avignon,  a  "  History  of  France 


HISTORIANS  AND  CHRONICLERS   2\J 

and  Turkey,"  in  1554,  in  which  he  included 
an  account  of  the  rebellion  of  Fiesco  in 
Genoa,  where  the  author  was  then  residing. 
The  sixteenth  century  witnessed  the  pro- 
duction of  several  popular  Jewish  histories. 
At  that  epoch  the  horizon  of  the  world  was 
extending  under  new  geographical  and  in- 
tellectual discoveries.  Israel,  on  the  other 
hand,  seemed  to  be  sinking  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  slough  of  despond.  Some 
of  the  men  who  had  themselves  been  the 
victims  of  persecution  saw  that  the  only 
hope  lay  in  rousing  the  historical  consci- 
ousness of  their  brethren.  History  became 
the  consolation  of  the  exiles  from  Spain 
who  found  themselves  pent  up  within  the 
walls  of  the  Ghettos,  which  were  first  built 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Samuel  Usque 
was  a  fugitive  from  the  Inquisition,  and 
his  dialogues,  "  Consolations  for  the  Tribu- 
lations of  Israel  "  (written  in  Portuguese, 
in  1553),  are  a  long  drawn-out  sigh  of  pain 
passing  into  a  sigh  of  relief.     Usque  opens 


2 1 8  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

with  a  passionate  idyl  in  which  the  history 
of  Israel  in  the  near  past  is  told  by  the 
shepherd  Icabo.  To  him  Nnmeo  and  Zi- 
careo  offer  consolation,  and  they  pour  balm 
into  his  wounded  heart.  The  vividness  of 
Usque's  style,  his  historical  insight,  his 
sturdy  optimism,  his  poetical  force  in  inter- 
preting suffering  as  the  means  of  attaining 
the  highest  life  in  God,  raise  his  book 
above  the  other  works  of  its  class  and  age. 
Usque's  poem  did  not  win  the  same  pop- 
ularity as  two  other  elegiac  histories  of  the 
same  period.  These  were  the  "  Rod  of 
Judah  "  (Shcbct  Jehudah)  and  the  "  Valley 
of  Tears "  {Einck  ha-Bachah).  The  for- 
mer was  the  work  of  three  generations  of 
the  Ibn  Verga  family.  Judah  died  before 
the  expulsion  from  Spain,  but  his  son  Solo- 
mon participated  in  the  final  troubles  of  the 
Spanish  Jews,  and  was  even  forced  to  join 
the  ranks  of  the  Marranos.  The  grandson, 
Joseph  Ibn  Verga,  became  Rabbi  in  Adri- 
anople,   and   was    cultured   in    classical   as 


HISTORIANS  AND  CHRONICLERS  219 

well  as  Jewish  lore.  Their  composite  work, 
"  The  Rod  of  Judah,"  was  completed  in 
1554.  It  is  a  well-written  but  badly  ar- 
ranged martyrology,  and  over  all  its  pages 
might  be  inscribed  the  Talmudical  motto, 
that  God's  chastisements  of  Israel  are  chas- 
tisements of  love.  The  other  work  refer- 
red to  is  Joseph  Cohen's  "Valley  of  Tears," 
completed  in  1575.  The  author  was  born 
in  Avignon  in  1496,  four  years  after  his 
father  had  shared  in  the  exile  from  Spain. 
He  himself  suffered  expatriation,  for, 
though  a  distinguished  physician  and  the 
private  doctor  of  the  Doge  Andrea  Doria, 
he  was  expelled  with  the  rest  of  the  Jews 
from  Genoa  in  1550.  Settled  in  the  little 
town  of  Voltaggio,  he  devoted  himself  to 
writing  the  annals  of  European  and  Jewish 
history.  His  style  is  clear  and  forcible, 
and  recalls  the  lucid  simplicity  of  the  his- 
torical books  of  the  Bible. 

The   only  other  histories   that   need   be 
critically  mentioned  here  are  the  "  Branch 


2  20  JE  WISH  L I TERA  TURE 

of  David  "  (Zcmacli  David),  the  "  Chain  of 
Tradition  "  (Shalsheleth  ha-Kabbalah),  and 
the  "  Light  of  the  Eyes  "  (Mcur  Enayim). 
Abraham  de  Porta  Leone's  "  Shields  of  the 
Mighty "  (Shiltc  ha-Gibborim,  printed  in 
Mantua  in  1612);  Leon  da  Modena's 
"  Ceremonies  and  Customs  of  the  Jews," 
(printed  in  Paris  in  1637);  David  Conforte's 
"  Call  of  the  Generations  "  (Korc  ha-Doroth, 
written  in  Palestine  in  about  1670);  Yechiel 
Heilprin's  "  Order  of  Generations  "  (Seder 
ha-Doroth,  written  in  Poland  in  1725);  and 
Chayim  Azulai's  "  Name  of  the  Great 
Ones"  (written  in  Leghorn  in  1774),  can 
receive  only  a  bare  mention. 

The  author  of  the  "  Branch  of  David," 
David  Gans,  was  born  in  Westphalia  in 
about  1540.  He  was  the  first  German  Jew 
of  his  age  to  take  real  interest  in  the  study 
of  history.  He  was  a  man  of  scientific  cul- 
ture, corresponded  with  Kepler,  and  was 
a  personal  friend  of  Tycho  Brahe.  For 
the  latter  Gans  made  a  German  translation 


HISTORIANS  AND  CHRONICLERS  221 

of  parts  of  the  Hebrew  version  of  the 
Tables  of  Alfonso,  originally  compiled  in 
1260.  Gans  wrote  works  on  mathematical 
and  physical  geography,  and  treatises  on 
arithmetic  and  geometry.  His  history, 
"  Branch  of  David,"  was  extremely  popu- 
lar. For  a  man  of  his  scientific  training  it 
shows  less  critical  power  than  might  have 
been  expected,  but  the  German  Jews  did 
not  begin  to  apply  criticism  to  history  till 
after  the  age  of  Mendelssohn.  In  one  re- 
spect, however,  the  "  Branch  of  David  " 
displays  the  width  of  the  author's  culture. 
Not  only  does  he  tell  the  history  of  the 
Jews,  but  in  the  second  part  of  his  work 
he  gives  an  account  of  many  lands  and 
cities,  especially  of  Bohemia  and  Prague, 
and  adds  a  striking  description  of  the 
secret  courts  (Vchmgcrichtc)  of  Westphalia. 
It  is  hard  to  think  that  the  authors  of 
the  "  Chain  of  Tradition  "  and  of  the 
"  Light  of  the  Eyes  "  were  contemporaries. 
Azariah   di   Rossi   (15 14-1588),   the   writer 


222  JE  WISH  L  ITER  A  TURE 

of  the  last  mentioned  book,  was  the 
founder  of  historical  criticism  among  the 
Jews.  Elias  del  Medigo  (1463-1498)  had 
led  in  the  direction,  but  di  Rossi's  work 
anticipated  the  methods,  of  the  German 
school  of  "  scientific  "  Jewish  writers,  who, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
applied  scientific  principles  to  the  study 
of  Jewish  traditions.  On  the  other  hand, 
Gedaliah  Ibn  Yachya  (15 15-1587)  was 
so  utterly  uncritical  that  his  "  Chain 
of  Tradition  "  was  nicknamed  by  Joseph 
Delmedigo  the  "  Chain  of  Lies."  Geda- 
liah was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  he  expended 
his  means  in  the  acquisition  of  books  and 
in  making  journeys  in  search  of  sacred  and 
profane  knowledge.  Yet  Gedaliah  made 
up  in  style  for  his  lack  of  historical  method. 
The  "  Chain  of  Tradition  "  is  a  picturesque 
and  enthralling  book,  it  is  a  warm  and 
cheery  retrospect,  and  even  deserves  to  be 
called  a  prose  epic.  Besides,  many  of  his 
statements  that  were  wont  to  be  treated  as 


HISTORIANS  AND  CHRONICLERS   223 

altogether  unauthentic  have  been  vindi- 
cated by  later  research.  Azariah  di  Rossi, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  immortalized  by  his 
spirit  rather  than  his  actual  contributions 
to  historical  literature.  He  came  of  an 
ancient  family  said  to  have  been  carried  to 
Rome  by  Titus,  and  lived  in  Ferrara, 
where,  in  1574,  he  produced  his  "  Light  of 
the  Eyes."  This  is  divided  into  three 
parts,  the  first  devoted  to  general  history, 
the  second  to  the  Letter  of  Aristeas,  the 
third  to  the  solution  of  several  historical 
problems,  all  of  which  had  been  neglected 
by  Jews  and  Christians  alike.  Azariah  di 
Rossi  was  the  first  critic  to.  open  up  true 
lines  of  research  into  the  Hellenistic  liter- 
ature of  the  Jews  of  Alexandria.  With 
him  the  true  historical  spirit  once  more 
descended  on  the  Jewish  genius. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  75,  seq.,  250  seq. 
A.     Neubauer. — Introductions    to    Medieval    Jewish 
Chronicles,  Vols.  1  and  II  (Oxford,  1882,  etc.). 


2  24  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

Selichoth. 

Zunz. — Sufferings  of  the  Jews  in   the  Middle  Ages 
(translated  by  A.  L6wy,  Miscellany  of  the  Society 
of  Hebrew  Literature,  Vol.  I).     See  also  /.  Q.  R., 
VIII,  pp.  78,  426,  611. 
Abraham  Ibn  Daud. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  363  [373]- 
Abraham  Zacuto. 

Graetz.— IV,  pp.  366,  36/,  391  [393]- 

Elijah  Kapsali. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  406  [435]. 

Joseph  Cohen,  Usque,  Ibn  Verga. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  555  [59°] . 

Chronicle  of  Joseph  ben  Joshua  the  Priest  (English 
translation  by  Bialoblotzky.     London,  1835-6). 

Elia  Delmedigo. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  290  [31^]- 

David  Gans. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  63S  [679]  - 

Gedaliah  Ibn  Yachya. 
Graetz.— IV,  p.  609  [655]. 

Azariah  di  Rossi. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  614  [653]. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
Isaac  Abarbanel 

Abarbanel's  Philosophy  and  Biblical  Commentaries. 
— Elias  Levita. — Zeena  u-Reena. — Moses  Al- 
shech. — The  Biur. 

The  career  of  Don  Isaac  Abarbanel  (born 
in  Lisbon  in  1437.  died  in  Venice  in  1509) 
worthily  closes  the  long  services  which  the 
Jews  of  Spain  rendered  to  the  state  and  to 
learning.  The  earlier  part  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  the  service  of  Alfonso  V  of  Por- 
tugal. He  possessed  considerable  wealth, 
and  his  house,  which  he  himself  tells  us 
was  built  with  spacious  halls,  was  the  meet- 
ing-place of  scholars,  diplomatists,  and 
men  of  science.  Among  his  other  occupa- 
tions, he  busied  himself  in  ransoming  Jew- 
ish slaves,  and  obtained  the  co-operation  of 
some  Italian  Jews  in  this  object. 

When  Alfonso  died,  Abarbanel  not  only 


226  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

lost  his  post  as  finance  minister,  but  was 
compelled  to  flee  for  his  life.  He  shared 
the  fall  of  the  Duke  of  Braganza,  whose 
popularity  was  hateful  to  Alfonso's  succes- 
sor. Don  Isaac  escaped  to  Castile  in  1484, 
and,  amid  the  friendly  smiles  of  the  cul- 
tured Jews  of  Toledo,  set  himself  to  resume 
the  literary  work  he  had  been  forced  to  lay 
aside  while  burdened  with  affairs  of  state. 
He  began  the  compilation  of  commentaries 
on  the  historical  books  of  the  Bible,  but 
he  was  not  long  left  to  his  studies.  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  under  the  very  eyes  of 
Torquemada  and  the  Inquisition,  entrusted 
the  finances  of  their  kingdom  to  the  Jew 
Abarbanel  during  the  years  1484  to  1492. 
In  the  latter  year,  Abarbanel  was  driven 
from  Spain  in  the  general  expulsion  insti- 
gated by  the  Inquisition.  He  found  a  tem- 
porary asylum  in  Naples,  where  he  also 
received  a  state  appointment.  But  he  was 
soon  forced  to  flee  again,  this  time  to 
Corfu.     "  My  wife,  my  sons,  and  my  books 


ISA  A  C  AB.  I RBANEL  22/ 

are  far  from  me,"  he  wrote,  "  and  I  am 
left  alone,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land." 
But  his  spirit  was  not  crushed  by  these 
successive  misfortunes.  He  continued  to 
compile  huge  works  at  a  very  rapid  rate. 
He  was  not  destined,  however,  to  end  his 
life  in  obscurity.  In  1503  he  was  given 
a  diplomatic  post  in  Venice,  and  he  passed 
his  remaining  years  in  happiness  and 
honor.  He  ended  the  splendid  roll  of 
famous  Spanish  Jews  with  a  career  pecu- 
liarly Spanish.  He  gave  a  final,  striking 
example  of  that  association  of  life  with  lit- 
erature which  of  old  characterized  Jews, 
but  which  found  its  greatest  and  last  home 
in  Spain. 

As  a  writer,  Abarbanel  has  many  faults. 
He  is  very  verbose,  and  his  mannerisms 
are  provoking.  Thus,  he  always  intro- 
duces his  commentaries  with  a  long  string 
of  questions,  which  he  then  proceeds  to 
answer.  It  was  jokingly  said  of  him  that 
he  made  many  sceptics,  for  not  one  in  a 


228  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

score  of  his  readers  ever  got  beyond  the 
questions  to  the  answers.  There  is  this 
truth  in  the  sarcasm,  that  Abarbanel,  de- 
spite his  essential  lucidity,  is  very  hard  to 
read.  Though  Abarbanel  has  obvious 
faults,  his  good  qualities  are  equally  tangi- 
ble. No  predecessor  of  Abarbanel  came  so 
near  as  he  did  to  the  modern  ideal  of  a 
commentator  on  the  Bible.  Ibn  Ezra  was 
the  father  of  the  "  Higher  Criticism,"  i.  e. 
the  attempt  to  explain  the  evolution  of  the 
text  of  Scripture.  The  Kimchis  developed 
the  strictly  grammatical  exposition  of  the 
Bible.  But  Abarbanel  understood  that,  to 
explain  the  Bible,  one  must  try  to  repro- 
duce the  atmosphere  in  which  it  was  writ- 
ten; one  must  realize  the  ideas  and  the  life 
of  the  times  with  which  the  narrative  deals. 
His  own  practical  state-craft  stood  him  in 
good  stead.  He  was  able  to  form  a  con- 
ception of  the  politics  of  ancient  Judea. 
His  commentaries  are  works  on  the  phi- 
losophy of  history.     His  more  formal  phi- 


ISAAC  ABARBANEL 


229 


losophical  works,  such  as  his  "  Deeds  of 
God  "  (Miphaloth  Elohim),  are  of  less 
value,  they  are  borrowed  in  the  main  from 
Maimonides.  In  his  Talmndical  writings, 
notably  his  "  Salvation  of  his  Anointed  " 
(Ycshuoth  Meshicho),  Abarbanel  displays 
a  lighter  and  more  original  touch  than  in 
his  philosophical  treatises.  But  his  works 
on  the  Bible  are  his  greatest  literary 
achievement.  Besides  the  merits  already 
indicated,  these  books  have  another  im- 
portant excellence.  He  was  the  first  Jew 
to  make  extensive  use  of  Christian  com- 
mentaries. He  must  be  credited  with  the 
discovery  that  the  study  of  the  Bible  may 
be  unsectarian,  and  that  all  who  hold  the 
Bible  in  honor  may  join  hands  in  elucidat- 
ing it. 

A  younger  contemporary  of  Abarbanel 
was  also  an  apostle  of  the  same  view.  This 
was  Elias  Levita  (1469- 1549).  He  was  a 
Grammarian,  or  Massorite,  i.  e.  a  student 
of  the  tradition  (Massorah)  as  to  the  He- 


2  30  JE I VISH  LITER  A  TURE 

brew  text  of  the  Bible,  and  he  was  an  ener- 
getic teacher  of  Christians.  In  the  six- 
teenth century  the  study  of  Hebrew  made 
much  progress  in  Europe,  but  the  Jews 
themselves  were  only  indirectly  associated 
with  this  advance.  Despite  Abarbanel, 
Jewish  commentaries  remained  either 
homiletic  or  mystical,  or,  like  the  popular 
works  of  Moses  Alshech,  were  more  or 
less  Midrashic  in  style.  But  the  Bible  was 
a  real  delight  to  the  Jews,  and  it  is  natural 
that  such  books  were  often  compiled  for 
the  masses.  Mention  must  be  made  of  the 
Ze'ena  u-Reena  ("  Go  forth  and  see "),  a 
work  written  at  the  beginning  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  in  Jewish-German  for  the 
use  of  women,  a  work  which  is  still  beloved 
of  the  Jewess.  But  the  seeds  sown  by 
Abarbanel  and  others  of  his  school  eventu- 
ally produced  an  abundant  harvest.  Men- 
delssohn's German  edition  of  the  Penta- 
teuch with  the  Hebrew  Commentary 
(Biitr)  was  the  turning-point  in  the  march 


ISA  A  C  A  BA  RBA  XEL  2  3 1 

towards  the  modern  exposition  of  the 
Bible,  which  had  been  inaugurated  by  the 
statesman-scholar  of  Spain. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Abarbanel. 

Graetz. — IV,  11. 

I.   S.   Meisels. — Don  Isaac  Abarbanel,  J.   Q.   R.,   II, 

P-  37- 
S.  Schechter.— S"fttdtV.s  in  Judaism,  p.  17^  [211]. 

F.    D.    Mocatta. — The  Jews  of  Spain   and   Portugal 

and  the  Inquisition  (London.  1877). 
Schiller-Szinessy. — Encycl.  Brit.,  Vol.  I,  p.  52. 

Exegesis  i6th-i8th  Centuries. 
Steinschneider. — Jewish  Literature,  p.  232  seq. 

BlUR. 

Specimen  of  the  Biur,  translated  by  A.  Benisch 
(Miscellany  of  the  Society  of  Hcbrczv  Literature, 
Vol.  I). 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

The  Shulchan  Aruch 

Asheri's  Arba  Turim. — Chiddushim  and  Teshuboth. 
— Solomon  ben  Adereth. — Meir  of  Rothenburg. 
— Sheshet  and  Duran. — Moses  and  Judah  Minz. 
— Jacob  Weil,  Israel  Isserlein,  Maharil. — David 
Abi  Zimra. — Josepb  Karo. — Jair  Bacharach. — 
Chacham  Zevi. — Jacob  Emden. — Ezekiel  Lan- 
dau. 

The  religions  literature  of  the  Jews,  so 
far  as  practical  life  was  concerned,  cul- 
minated in  the  publication  of  the  "  Table 
Prepared"  (Sliulchan  Aruch),  in  1565. 
The  first  book  of  its  kind  compiled  after 
the  invention  of  printing,  the  Shulchan 
Aruch  obtained  a  popularity  denied  to  all 
previous  works  designed  to  present  a  di- 
gest of  Jewish  ethics  and  ritual  obser- 
vances. It  in  no  sense  superseded  the 
"  Strong  Hand  "  of  Maimonides,  but  it  was 
so  much  more  practical  in  its  scope,  so 
much  clearer  as  a  work  of  general  refer- 


THE  SHI  L  CIL  WARl'CH  233 

ence,  so  much  fuller  of  MiUhdg,  or  estab- 
lished custom,  that  it  speedily  became  the 
universal  hand-book  of  Jewish  life  in  many 
of  its  phases.  It  was  not  accepted  in  all 
its  parts,  and  its  blemishes  were  clearly 
perceived.  The  author,  Joseph  Karo,  was 
too  tender  to  the  past,  and  admitted  some 
things  which  had  a  historical  justification, 
but  which  Karo  himself  would  have 
been  the  first  to  reject  as  principles  of  con- 
duct for  his  own  or  later  times.  On  the 
whole,  the  book  was  a  worthy  summary  of 
the  fundamental  Jewish  view,  that  religion 
is  co-extensive  with  life,  and  that  every- 
thing worth  doing  at  all  ought  to  be  done 
in  accordance  with  a  general  principle  of 
obedience  to  the  divine  will.  The  defects 
of  such  a  view  are  the  defects  of  its  quali- 
ties. 

The  Shulchan  Aruch  was  the  outcome  of 
centuries  of  scholarship.  It  was  original, 
vet  it  was  completely  based  on  previous 
works.      In   particular  the   "  Four   Rows  " 


234  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

(Arbaa  Tit  rim)  of  Jacob  Asheri  (1283- 
1340)  was  one  of  the  main  sources  of 
Karo's  work.  The  "  Four  Rows,"  again, 
owed  everything  to  Jacob's  father,  Asher, 
the  son  of  Yechiel,  who  migrated  from 
Germany  to  Toledo  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  But  besides 
the  systematic  codes  of  his  predecessors, 
Karo  was  able  to  draw  on  a  vast  mass  of 
literature  on  the  Talmud  and  on  Jewish 
Law,  accumulated  in  the  course  of  cen- 
turies. 

There  was,  in  the  first  place,  a  large  col- 
lection of  "  Novelties "  (Chiddushim),  or 
Notes  on  the  Talmud,  by  various  authori- 
ties. More  significant,  however,  were  the 
"  Responses "  (Teshuboth),  which  resem- 
bled those  of  the  Gaonim  referred  to  in 
an  earlier  chapter.  The  Rabbinical  Cor- 
respondence, in  the  form  of  Responses  to 
Questions  sent  from  far  and  near,  covered 
the  whole  field  of  secular  and  religious 
knowledge.      The     style     of    these     "  Re- 


THE  SHI  Z CHAN  AR I  CH  235 

sponses  "  was  at  first  simple,  terse,  and  full 
of  actuality.  The  most  famous  representa- 
tives of  this  form  of  literature  after  the 
Gaonim  were  both  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, Solomon,  the  son  of  Adereth,  in  Spain, 
and  Meir  of  Rbthenburg  in  Germany.  Solo- 
mon, the  son  of  Adereth,  of  Barcelona,  was 
a  man  whose  moral  earnestness,  mild  yet 
firm  disposition,  profound  erudition,  and 
tolerant  character,  won  for  him  a  supreme 
place  in  Jewish  life  for  half  a  century. 
Meir  of  Rothenburg  was  a  poet  and  mar- 
tyr as  well  as  a  profound  scholar.  He 
passed  many  years  in  prison  rather  than 
yield  to  the  rapacious  demands  of  the  local 
government  for  a  ransom,  which  Meir's 
friends  would  willingly  have  paid.  As  a 
specimen  of  Meir's  poetry,  the  following 
verses  are  taken  from  a  dirge  composed  by 
him  in  1285,  when  copies  of  the  Penta- 
teuch were  publicly  committed  to  the 
flames.  The  "Law"  is  addressed  in  the 
second  person  : 


236  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


Dismay  hath  seized  upon  my  soul;  how  then 

Can  food  be  sweet  to  me? 
When,    O   thou    Law!    I   have   beheld  base  men 

Destroying  thee? 

Ah!    sweet   'twould    be   unto    mine    eyes   alway 

Waters  of  tears  to  pour. 
To  sob.  and   drench   thy   sacred   robes,   till  they 

Could  hold  no  more. 

But  lo!   my   tears   are   dried,   when,   fast   outpoured. 

They  down  my  cheeks  are  shed. 
Scorched  by  the  fire  within,  because  thy  Lord 

Hath  turned  and  sped. 

Yea,  I  am  desolate  and  sore  bereft, 

Lo!  a  forsaken  one, 
Like  a  sole  beacon  on  a  mountain  left, 

A  tower  alone. 

I  hear  the  voice  of  singers  now  no  more, 

Silence  their  song  hath  bound. 
For  broken  are  the  strings  on   harps  of  yore, 

Viols  of  sweet  sound. 

I  am  astonied  that  the  day's  fair  light 

Yet  shineth  brilliantly 
On  all  things;  but  is  ever  dark  as  night 

To  me  and  thee. 


Even  as  when  thy  Rock  afflicted  thee, 

He  will  assuage  thy  woe, 
And  turn  again  the  tribes'  captivity, 

And  raise  the  low. 


THE  SHI  7.  CH  I X  .  I R I  'CH  237 

Yet    shalt   thou    wear    thy    scarlet    raiment    choice, 

And  sound  the  timbrels  high, 
And  glad  amid  the  dancers  shalt  rejoice, 

With  joyful  cry. 

My  heart  shall  be  uplifted  on  the  day 

Thy   Rock  shall  be  thy  light. 
When  he  shall  make  thy  gloom  to  pass  away, 

Thy  darkness   bright. 

This  combination  of  the  poetical  with 
the  legal  mind  was  parallelled  by  other 
combinations  in  such  masters  of  "  Re- 
sponses "  as  the  Sheshet  and  Duran  fam- 
ilies in  Algiers  in  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  In  these  men  depth  of 
learning  was  associated  with  width  of  cul- 
ture. Others,  such  as  Moses  and  Jndah 
Minz,  Jacob  Weil,  and  Israel  Isserlein, 
whose  influence  was  paramount  in  Ger- 
many in  the  fifteenth  century,  were  less 
cultivated,  but  their  learning  was  asso- 
ciated with  a  geniality  and  sense  of  humor 
that  make  their  "  Responses"  very  human 
and  very  entertaining.  There  is  the  same 
homely,   affectionate  air  in   the  collection 


238  JE  WISH  LITERA  TURE 

of  Minhagim,  or  Customs,  known  as  the 
Maharil,  which  belongs  to  the  same  period. 
On  the  other  hand,  David  Abi  Zimra, 
Rabbi  of  Cairo  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
was  as  independent  as  he  was  learned.  It 
was  he,  for  instance,  who  abolished  the  old 
custom  of  dating  Hebrew  documents  from 
the  Seleucid  era  (311  B.  C.  E.).  And,  to 
pass  beyond  the  time  of  Karo,  the  writers 
of  "  Responses "  include  the  gifted  Jair 
Chayim  Bacharach  (seventeenth  century), 
a  critic  as  well  as  a  legalist;  Chacham  Zevi 
and  Jacob  Emden  in  Amsterdam,  and  Eze- 
kiel  Landau  in  Prague,  the  former  two  of 
whom  opposed  the  Messianic  claims  of 
Sabbatai  Zevi,  and  the  last  of  whom  was  an 
antagonist  to  the  Germanizing  tendency  of 
Moses  Mendelssohn. 

Joseph  Karo  himself  was  a  man  of  many 
parts.  He  was  born  in  Spain  in  1488,  and 
died  in  Safed,  the  nest  of  mysticism,  in  1 575- 
Master  of  the  Talmudic  writings  of  his  pre- 
decessors  from    his   youth,    Karo   devoted 


THE  SHI  X CHAN  ARl  TCH  2 39 


thirty-two  years  to  the  preparation  of  an 
exhaustive  commentary  on  the  "  Four 
Rows "  of  Jacob  Asheri.  This  occupied 
him  from  1522  to  1554.  Karo  was  an  en- 
thusiast as  well  as  a  student,  and  the  emo- 
tional side  of  the  Kabbala  had  much  fasci- 
nation for  him.  He  believed  that  he  had  a 
familiar,  or  Maggid,  the  personification  of 
the  Mishnah,  who  appeared  to  him  in 
dreams,  and  held  communion  with  him. 
He  found  a  congenial  home  in  Safed, 
where  the  mystics  had  their  head-quarters 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Karo's  com- 
panion on  his  journey  to  Safed  was  Solo- 
mon Alkabets,  author  of  the  famous  Sab- 
bath hymn  "  Come,  my  Friend  "  (Lecha 
Dodi),  with  the  refrain: 

Come  forth,  my  friend,  the  Bride  to  meet, 
Come,    O   my   friend,   the   Sahhath   greet! 

The  Shulchan  Aruch  is  arranged  in  four 
parts,  called  fancifully,  "  Path  of  Life  " 
(Orach     Chayim),     "Teacher     of     Knowl- 


240  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

edge  "  (Yorcli  Dcah),  "  Breastplate  of 
Judgment  "  (Choshcn  ha-Mishpat),  and 
"  Stone  of  Help "  (Ebcn  ha-Ezer).  The 
first  part  is  mainly  occupied  with  the  sub- 
ject of  prayer,  benedictions,  the  Sabbath, 
the  festivals,  and  the  observances  proper  to 
each.  The  second  part  deals  with  food  and 
its  preparation,  Shcchitali,  or  slaughtering 
of  animals  for  food,  the  relations  between 
Jews  and  non-Jews,  vows,  respect  to  par- 
ents, charity,  and  religious  observances 
connected  with  agriculture,  such  as  the 
payment  of  tithes,  and,  finally,  the  rites  of 
mourning.  This  section  of  the  Shulchan 
Aruch  is  the  most  miscellaneous  of  the 
four;  in  the  other  three  the  association  of 
subjects  is  more  logical.  The  Eben  ha- 
Ezer  treats  of  the  laws  of  marriage  and 
divorce  from  their  civil  and  religious  as- 
pects. The  Choshen  ha-Mishpat  deals 
with  legal  procedure,  the  laws  regulating 
business  transactions  and  the  relations  be- 
tween   man    and    man   in    the    conduct    of 


THE  SHUL  CHA  N  AR  UCH  24 1 

worldly  affairs.  A  great  number  of  com- 
mentaries on  Karo's  Code  were  written  by 
and  for  the  Acharonim  (==  later  scholars). 
It  fully  deserved  this  attention,  for  on  its 
own  lines  the  Shulchan  Aruch  was  a  mas- 
terly production.  It  brought  system  into  the 
discordant  opinions  of  the  Rabbinical  au- 
thorities of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  its  publi- 
cation in  the  sixteenth  century  was  itself  a 
stroke  of  genius.  Never  before  had  such  a 
work  been  so  necessary  as  then.  The  Jews 
were  in  sight  of  what  was  to  them  the  dark- 
est age,  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. Though  the  Shulchan  Aruch  had 
an  evil  effect  in  stereotyping  Jewish  reli- 
gious thought  and  in  preventing  the  rapid 
spread  of  the  critical  spirit,  yet  it  was  a 
rallying  point  for  the  disorganized  Jews, 
and  saved  them  from  the  disintegration 
which  threatened  them.  The  Shulchan 
Aruch  was  the  last  great  bulwark  of  the 
Rabbinical  conception  of  life.  Alike  in  its 
form  and  contents  it    was  a  not  unworthy 


242  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

close  to  the  series  of  codes  which  began 

with  the  Mishnah,  and  in  which  life  itself 

was  codified. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Steinschneider. — lavish  Literature,  p.  213  seq. 
I.  H.  Weiss.— On  Codes,  J.  Q.  R.,  I,  p.  289. 

ASHER  BEN  YECHIEL. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  34  [37]- 
Jacob  Asheri. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  88  [95]. 
Solomon  ben  Adereth. 

Graetz.— Ill,  p.  618  [639] • 
Meir  of  Rothenburg. 

Graetz.— Ill,  pp.  625,  638  [646]. 

JUDAH   MlNZ. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  294  [317]- 
Maharil. 

S.  Schechter. — Studies  in  Judaism,  p.  142  [173]. 
David  ben  Abi  Zimra. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  393  [420]. 
Jair  Ciiayim  Bacharach. 

D.  Kaufmann,  /.  Q.  R.,  Ill,  p.  292,  etc. 
Joseph  Karo. 

Graetz— IV,  p.  537  t57i]- 
Moses  Isserles. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  637  [6771- 
Chiddushim. 

Graetz.— IV,  p.  641  [682]. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


Amsterdam  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 

Manasseh  ben  Israel. — Baruch  Spinoza. — The  Drama 
in  Hebrew. — Moses  Zacut,  Joseph  Felix  Penso, 
Moses  Chayim  Luzzatto. 


Holland  was  the  centre  of  Jewish  hope  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  among-  its  tol- 
erant and  cultivated  people  the  Marranos, 
exiled  from  Spain  and  Portugal,  founded 
a  new  Jerusalem.  Two  writers  of  Mar- 
rano  origin,  wide  as  the  poles  asunder  in 
gifts  of  mind  and  character,  represented 
two  aspects  of  the  aspiration  of  the  Jews 
towards  a  place  in  the  wider  world.  Ma- 
nasseh ben  Israel  (1604- 1 657)  was  an  enthu- 
siast who  based  his  ambitious  hopes  on  the 
Messianic  prophecies;  Baruch  Spinoza 
(1632-1677)  lacked  enthusiasm,  had  little 
belief  in  the  verbal  promises  of  Scripture, 
yet  developed  a  system  of  ethics  in  which 


244  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

God  filled  the  world.  Manasseh  ben 
Israel  regained  for  the  Jews  admission  to 
England;  Spinoza  reclaimed  the  right  of 
a  Jew  to  a  voice  in  the  philosophy  of  the 
world.  Both  were  political  thinkers  who 
maintained  the  full  rights  of  the  individual 
conscience,  and  though  the  arguments 
used  vary  considerably,  yet  Manasseh  ben 
Israel's  splendid  Vindicice  Judeorum  and 
Spinoza's  "  Tractate  "  alike  insist  on  the 
natural  right  of  men  to  think  freely.  They 
anticipated  some  of  the  greatest  principles 
that  won  acceptance  at  the  end  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

Manasseh  ben  Israel  was  born  in  Lisbon 
of  Marrano  parents,  who  emigrated  to  Am- 
sterdam a  few  years  after  their  son's  birth. 
He  displayed  a  youthful  talent  for  oratory, 
and  was  a  noted  preacher  in  his  teens.  He 
started  the  first  Hebrew  printing-press  es- 
tablished in  Amsterdam,  and  from  it  issued 
many  works  still  remarkable  for  the  ex- 
cellence of  their  type  and   general  work- 


AMSTERDAM  245 


manship.  Manasseh  was  himself,  not  only 
a  distinguished  linguist,  but  a  popularizer 
of  linguistic  studies.  He  wrote  well  in 
Hebrew,  Latin,  English,  Spanish,  and  Por- 
tuguese, and  was  the  means  of  instructing 
many  famous  Christians  of  the  day  in  He- 
brew and  Rabbinic.  Among  his  personal 
friends  were  Yossius,  who  translated  Ma- 
nasseh's  "  Conciliator  "  from  Spanish  into 
Latin.  This,  the  most  important  of  Ma- 
nasseh's  earl)-  writings,  was  as  popular  with 
Christians  as  with  Jews,  for  it  attempted 
to  reconcile  the  discrepancies  and  contra- 
dictions apparent  in  the  Bible.  Another 
of  his  friends  was  the  painter  Rembrandt, 
who.  in  1636,  etched  the  portrait  of  Manas- 
sdi.  1 1  not  and  Grotius  were  also  among 
the  friends  and  disciples  who  gathered 
round  the  Amsterdam  Rabbi. 

An  unexpected  result  of  Manasseh  ben 
Israel's  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  Hebrew 
studies  among  his  own  brethren  was  the 
rise  of  a  new  form  of  poetical   literature. 


246  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

The  first  dramas  in  Hebrew  belong  to  this 
period.  Moses  Zacut  and  Joseph  Felix 
Penso  wrote  Hebrew  dramas  in  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  in  Amsterdam. 
The  "  Foundation  of  the  World  "  by  the 
former  and  the  "  Captives  of  Hope  "  by  the 
latter  possess  little  poetical  merit,  but  they 
are  interesting  signs  of  the  desire  of  Jews 
to  use  Hebrew  for  all  forms  of  literary 
art.  Hence  these  dramas  were  hailed  as 
tokens  of  Jewish  revival.  Strangely 
enough,  the  only  great  writer  of  Hebrew 
plays,  Moses  Chayim  Luzzatto  (1707- 
1747),  was  also  resident  in  Amsterdam. 
Luzzatto  wrote  under  the  influence  of  the 
Italian  poet  Guarini.  His  metres,  his  long 
soliloquies,  his  lyrics,  his  dovetailing  of 
rural  and  urban  scenery,  are  all  directly 
traceable  to  Guarini.  Luzzatto  was  never- 
theless an  original  poet.  His  mastery  of 
Hebrew  was  complete,  and  his  rich  fancy 
was  expressed  in  glowing  lines.  His 
dramas,  "  Samson,"  the  "  Strong  Tower," 


AMSTERDAM  247 


and  "  Glory  to  the  Virtuous,"  show  classi- 
cal refinement  and  freshness  of  touch, 
which  have  made  them  the  models  of  all 
subsequent  efforts  of  Hebrew  dramatists. 

Manasseh  ben  Israel  did  not  allow  him- 
self to  become  absorbed  in  the  wider  in- 
terests opened  out  to  him  by  his  intimacy 
with  the  greatest  Christian  scholars  of  his 
day.  He  prepared  a  Spanish  translation 
of  the  Pentateuch  for  the  Amsterdam  Jews, 
who  were  slow  to  adopt  Dutch  as  their 
speech,  a  fact  not  wonderful  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  literary  Dutch  was  only 
then  forming.  Manasseh  also  wrote  at  this 
period  a  Hebrew  treatise  on  immortality. 
His  worldly  prosperity  was  small,  and  he 
even  thought  of  emigrating  to  Brazil.  But 
the  friends  of  the  scholar  found  a  post  for 
him  in  a  new  college  for  the  study  of  He- 
brew, a  college  to  which  it  is  probable  that 
Spinoza  betook  himself.  In  the  mean- 
time the  reports  of  Montesinos  as  to  the 
presence  of  the  Lost  Ten  Tribes  in  Amer- 


248  JEWISH  LITER  A  TURE 

ica  turned  the  current  of  Manasseh's  life. 
In  1650  he  wrote  his  famous  essay,  the 
"  Hope  of  Israel,"  which  he  dedicated  to 
the  English  Parliament.  He  argued  that, 
as  a  preliminary  to  the  restoration  of  Israel, 
or  the  millennium,  for  which  the  English 
Puritans  were  eagerly  looking,  the  disper- 
sion of  Israel  must  be  complete.  The  hopes 
of  the  millennium  were  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment unless  the  Jews  were  readmitted 
to  England,  "  the  isle  of  the  Northern 
Sea."  His  dedication  met  with  a  friendly 
reception,  Manasseh  set  out  for  England 
in  1655,  and  obtained  from  Cromwell  a 
qualified  consent  to  the  resettlement  of  the 
Jews  in  the  land  from  which  they  had  been 
expelled  in  1290. 

The  pamphlets  which  Manasseh  pub- 
lished in  England  deserve  a  high  place 
in  literature  and  in  the  history  of  modern 
thought.  They  are  immeasurably  supe- 
rior to  his  other  works,  which  are  eloquent 
but  diffuse,  learned  but  involved.     But  in 


AMSTERDAM 


-4'J 


his  VindicicB  Judeorum  (1656)  his  style  and 
thought  are  clear,  original,  elevated.  There 
are  here  no  mystic  irrelevancies.  His  re- 
marks are  to  the  point,  sweetly  reasonable, 
forcible,  moderate.  He  grapples  with  the 
medieval  prejudices  against  the  Jews  in  a 
manner  which  places  his  works  among-  the 
best  political  pamphlets  ever  written. 
Morally,  too,  his  manner  is  noteworthy. 
He  pleads  for  Judaism  in  a  spirit  equally 
removed  from  arrogance  and  self-abase- 
ment. He  is  dignified  in  his  persuasive- 
ness. He  appeals  to  a  sense  of  justice 
rather  than  mercy,  yet  he  writes  as  one 
who  knows  that  justice  is  the  rarest  and 
highest  quality  of  human  nature;  as  one 
who  knows  that  humbly  to  express  grati- 
tude for  justice  received  is  to  do  reverence 
to  the  noblest  faculty  of  man. 

Fate  rather  than  disposition  tore  Manas- 
seh  from  his  study  to  plead  before  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament.  Baruch  Spinoza  was 
spared    such    distraction.     Into    his    self- 


250  JEWISH  LITER  A  TURE 

contained  life  the  affairs  of  the  world  could 
effect  no  entry.  It  is  not  quite  certain 
whether  Spinoza  was  born  in  Amsterdam. 
He  must,  at  all  events,  have  come  there  in 
his  early  youth.  He  may  have  been  a 
pupil  of  Manasseh,  but  his  mind  was  nur- 
tured on  the  philosophical  treatises  of  Mai- 
monides  and  Crescas.  His  thought  be- 
came sceptical,  and  though  he  was  "  intox- 
icated with  a  sense  of  God,"  he  had  no  love 
for  any  positive  religion.  He  learned 
Latin,  and  found  new  avenues  opened  to 
him  in  the  writings  of  Descartes.  His  as- 
sociations with  the  representatives  of  the 
Cartesian  philosophy  and  his  own  indiffer- 
ence to  ceremonial  observances  brought 
him  into  collision  with  the  Synagogue, 
and,  in  1656,  during  the  absence  of  Manas- 
seh in  England,  Spinoza  was  excommuni- 
cated by  the  Amsterdam  Rabbis.  Spinoza 
was  too  strong  to  seek  the  weak  revenge 
of  an  abjuration  of  Judaism.  He  went  on 
quietly    earning   a    living    as    a    maker    of 


AMSTERDAM  25 1 


lenses;  he  refused  a  professorship,  prefer- 
ring, like  Maimonides  before  him,  to  rely 
on  other  than  literary  pursuits  as  a  means 
of  livelihood. 

In  1670  Spinoza  finished  his  "  Theolo- 
gico-Political  Tractate,"  in  which  some  bit- 
terness against  the  Synagogue  is  apparent. 
His  attack  on  the  Bible  is  crude,  but  the 
fundamental  principles  of  modern  criticism 
are  here  anticipated.  The  main  importance 
of  the  "  Tractate  "  lay  in  the  doctrine  that 
the  state  has  full  rights  over  the  individual, 
except  in  relation  to  freedom  of  thought 
and  free  expression  of  thought.  These  are 
rights  which  no  human  being  can  alienate 
to  the  state.  Of  Spinoza's  greatest  work, 
the  "  Ethics,"  it  need  only  be  said  that  it 
was  one  of  the  most  stimulating  works  of 
modern  times.  A  child  of  Judaism  and  of 
Cartesianism,  Spinoza  won  a  front  place 
among  the  great  teachers  of  mankind. 


252  JE  WISH  LITER  A  Tl  ~R  E 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Manasseh  ben  Israel. 
Graetz. — V,  2. 
H.    Adler. — Transactions    of    the   Jewish    Historical 

Society  of  England,  Vol.  I,  p.  25. 
Kayserling. — Miscellany  of   the   Society   of   Hebrew 

Literature,  Vol.  I. 
Lady  Magnus. — Jewish  Portraits,  p.  109. 
English  translations  of  works,   /  'indicia  Judeorum, 

Hope  of   Israel,    The   Conciliator   (E.    H.    Lindo, 

1841,  etc.). 

Spinoza. 
Graetz. — V,  4. 

J.    Freudenthal. — History  of   Spinozism,   J.    0.    R., 
VIII,  p.  17. 

Hebrew  Dramas. 

Karpeles. — Jewish    Literature  and  other   Essays,    p. 

229. 
Abrahams. — Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  ch.  14 
Graetz.— V,  pp.  112  [119].  234  [247]. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


Moses  Mendelssohn 

Mendelssohn's  German  Translation  of  the  Bible. — 
Phaedo. — Jerusalem. — Lessing's  "  Nathan  the 
Wise." 


Muses,  the  son  of  Mendel,  was  born  in 
Dessan  in  1728,  and  died  in  Berlin  in  1786. 
His  father  was  poor,  and  he  himself  was  of 
a  weak  constitution.  But  his  stunted  form 
was  animated  by  a  strenuous  spirit.  After 
a  boyhood  passed  under  conditions  which 
did  little  to  stimulate  his  dawning  aspira- 
tions, Mendelssohn  resolved  to  follow  his 
teacher  Frankel  to  Berlin.  He  trudged  the 
whole  way  on  foot,  and  was  all  but  refused 
admission  into  the  Prussian  capital,  where 
he  was  destined  to  produce  so  profound  an 
impression.  In  Berlin  his  struggle  with 
pOvelrty  continued,   but   his  condition   was 


254  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


improved  when  he  obtained  a  post,  first  as 
private  tutor,  then  as  book-keeper  in  a  silk 
factory. 

Berlin  was  at  this  time  the  scene  of  an 
intellectual  and  aesthetic  revival  dominated 
by  Frederick  the  Great.  The  latter,  a 
dilettante  in  culture,  was,  as  Mendelssohn 
said  of  him,  a  man  "  who  made  the  arts 
and  sciences  flourish,  and  made  liberty  of 
thought  universal  in  his  realm."  The  Ger- 
man Jews  were  as  yet  outside  this  revival. 
In  Italy  and  Holland  the  new  movements 
of  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury had  found  Jews  well  to  the  fore.  But 
the  "  German  "  Jews — and  this  term  in- 
cluded the  great  bulk  of  the  Jews  of  Eu- 
rope— were  suffering  from  the  effects  of  in- 
tellectual stagnation.  The  Talmud  still  ex- 
ercised the  mind  and  imagination  of  these 
Jews,  but  culture  and  religion  were  sepa- 
rated. Mendelssohn  in  a  hundred  places 
contends  that  such  separation  is  dangerous 
and  unnatural.     It  was  his  service  to  Juda- 


MOSES  MENDELSSOHN  255 

ism  that  he  made  the  separation  once  for 
all  obsolete. 

Mendelssohn  effected  this  by  purely  lit- 
erary means.  Most  reformations  have  been 
at  least  aided  by  moral  and  political  forces. 
But  the  Mendelssohnian  revival  in  Juda- 
ism was  a  literary  revival,  in  which  moral 
and  religious  forces  had  only  an  indirect 
influence.  By  the  aid  of  greater  refine- 
ment of  language,  for  hitherto  the  "  Ger- 
man "  Jews  had  not  spoken  pure  German; 
by  a  widening  of  the  scope  of  education  in 
the  Jewish  schools;  by  the  introduction  of 
all  that  is  known  as  culture,  Mendelssohn 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  Jewish  life. 
And  he  produced  this  reformation  by 
books  and  by  books  alone.  Never  playing 
the  part  of  a  religious  or  moral  reformer, 
Mendelssohn  became  the  Jewish  apostle  of 
culture. 

The  great  event  of  his  life  occurred  in 
1754,  when  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Lessing.     The    two    young    men    became 


256  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 


constant  friends.  Lessing,  before  he  knew 
Mendelssohn,  had  written  a  drama,  "  The 
Jews,"  in  which,  perhaps  for  the  first  time, 
a  Jew  was  represented  on  the  stage  as  a 
man  of  honor.  In  Mendelssohn,  Lessing 
recognized  a  new  Spinoza;  in  Lessing, 
Mendelssohn  saw  the  perfect  ideal  of  cul- 
ture. The  masterpiece  of  Lessing's  art, 
the  drama  "  Nathan  the  Wise,"  was  the 
monument  of  this  friendship.  Mendelssohn 
was  the  hero  of  the  drama,  and  the  tolera- 
tion which  it  breathes  is  clearly  Mendels- 
sohn's. Mendelssohn  held  that  there  was 
no  absolutely  best  religion  any  more  than 
there  was  an  absolutely  best  form  of  gov- 
ernment. This  was  the  leading  idea  of  his 
last  work,  "  Jerusalem  ";  it  is  also  the  cen- 
tral thought  of  "  Nathan  the  Wise."  The 
best  religion,  according  to  both,  is  the 
religion  which  best  brings  out  the  indi- 
vidual's noblest  faculties.  As  Mendelssohn 
wrote,  there  are  certain  eternal  truths  which 
God  implants  in  all  men  alike,  but  "Judaism 


Ml  >SES  MENDELSSOHN 


257 


boasts  of  no  exclusive  revelation  of  im- 
mutable truths  indispensable  to  salvation." 
What  has  just  been  quoted  is  one  of  the 
last  utterances  of  Mendelssohn.  We  must 
retrace  our  steps  to  the  date  of  his  first  in- 
timacy with  Lessing.  He  devoted  his  at- 
tention to  the  perfecting  of  his  German 
style,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  his  writ- 
ings have  gained  a  place  among  the 
classics  of  German  literature.  In  1763, 
he  won  the  Berlin  prize  for  an  essay  on 
Mathematical  Method  in  Philosophical 
Reasoning,  and  defeated  Kant  entirely  on 
account  of  his  lucid  and  attractive  style. 
Mendelssohn's  most  popular  philosophical 
work,  "  Phrcdo,  or  the  Immortality  of  the 
Soul,"  won  extraordinary  popularity  in 
Berlin,  as  much  for  its  attractive  form  as 
for  its  spiritual  charms.  The  "  German 
Plato,"  the  "  Jewish  Socrates,"  were  some 
of  the  epithets  bestowed  on  him  by  multi- 
tudes of  admirers.  Indeed,  the  "  Phaedo  " 
of  Mendelssohn  is  a  work  of  rare  beauty. 
17 


258  JE  WISH  LITER  A  TURE 

One  of  the  results  of  Mendelssohn's  pop- 
ularity was  a  curious  correspondence  with 
Lavater.  The  latter  perceived  in  Mendels- 
sohn's toleration  signs  of  weakness,  and  be- 
lieved that  he  could  convert  the  famous 
Jew  to  Christianity.  Mendelssohn's  reply, 
like  his  "  Jerusalem "  and  his  admirable 
preface  to  a  German  translation  of  Manas- 
seh  ben  Israel's  Viiidicicc  Judeorum,  gave 
voice  to  that  claim  on  personal  liberty 
of  thought  and  conscience  for  which  the 
Jews,  unconsciously,  had  been  so  long  con- 
tending. Mendelssohn's  view  was  that  all 
true  religious  aspirations  are  independent 
of  religious  forms.  Mendelssohn  did  not 
ignore  the  value  of  forms,  but  he  held  that 
as  there  are  often  several  means  to  the 
same  end,  so  the  various  religious  forms  of 
the  various  creeds  may  all  lead  their  respec- 
tive adherents  to  salvation  and  to  God. 

Mendelssohn's  most  epoch-making  work 
was  his  translation  of  the  Pentateuch  into 
German.     With  this  work  the  present  his- 


MOSES  MENDELSSOHN  259 

tory  finds  a  natural  close.  Mendelssohn's 
Pentateuch  marks  the  modernization  of  the 
literature  of  Judaism.  There  was  much 
opposition  to  the  book,  but  on  the  other 
hand  many  Jews  eagerly  scanned  its  pages, 
acquired  its  noble  diction,  and  committed 
its  rhythmic  eloquence  to  their  hearts. 
Round  Mendelssohn  there  clustered  a  band 
of  devoted  disciples,  the  pioneers  of  the 
new  learning,  the  promoters  of  a  literature 
of  Judaism,  in  which  the  modern  spirit  re- 
animated the  still  living  records  of  antiqu- 
ity. There  was  certainly  some  weakness 
among  the  men  and  women  affected  by 
the  Berlin  philosopher,  for  some  discarded 
all  positive  religion,  because  the  master 
had  taught  that  all  positive  religions  had 
their  saving  and  truthful  elements. 

It  is  not,  however,  the  province  of  this 
sketch  to  trace  the  religious  effects  of  the 
Mendelssohnian  movement.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that,  while  the  old  Jewish  conception 
had   been   that   literature   and    life   are   co- 


260  JEWISH  LITERATURE 

extensive,  Jewish  literature  begins  with 
Mendelssohn  to  have  an  independent  life 
of  its  own,  a  life  of  the  spirit,  which  cannot 
be  altogether  controlled  by  the  tribulations 
of  material  life.  A  physical  Ghetto  may 
once  more  be  imposed  on  the  Jews  from 
without;  an  intellectual  Ghetto  imposed 
from  within  is  hardly  conceivable.  Toler- 
ance gave  the  modern  spirit  to  Jewish  liter- 
ature, but  intolerance  cannot  withdraw  it. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Moses  Mendelssohn. 
Graetz.— V,  8. 

Karpeles. — Sketch  of  Jewish  History,  p.  93;  Jewish 
Literature  and  other  Essays,  p.  293. 

English  translations  of  Phccdo,  Jerusalem,  and  of 
the  Introduction  to  the  Pentateuch  (Hebrczv  Review, 
Vol.  I). 
Other  translations  of  Jerusalem  were  made  by  M. 
Samuels  (London,  1838)  and  by  Isaac  Leeser,  the 
latter  published  as  a  supplement  to  the  Occident, 
Philadelphia,  5612. 

The  Mendelssohnian  Movement. 
Graetz. — V,  10. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abayi,   Arnora,  51. 

Abba  Areka,  Arnora,  47,  4S,  51. 
popularizes    Jewish    learning, 

49. 
wide  outlook  of,   50. 

Abbahu,  Amora,  48-49. 

Abraham  de  Balmes,  translator, 
149. 

Abraham  de  Porta  Leone,  histo- 
rian, 220. 

Abraham  Ibn  Chisdai,  story  by, 
154-155. 

Abraham    Ibn    Daud,    historian, 
213-214. 

Abraham    Ibn    Ezra,    on    Kalir, 

eg 

life  of,  115. 
quotations  from,  115. 
activities   and    views   of,    116, 
123,   151. 
Abraham     Abulafia,     Kabbalist, 

171. 
Abraham    Farissol,    geographer, 

206. 
Abraham  Zaeuto,  historian,  216. 
Abul-Paraj    Harun,    Karaite   au- 
thor, 77. 
Abulwalid   Merwan   Ibn  Janach, 
grammarian,  101. 
works  of,  translated,  148. 
Achai,   Gaon  and  author,   70. 
Acharonim,  later  scholars,   240. 
;Esop,    used    by    Berachya    ha- 

Nakdan,  157. 
"Against  Apion,"  by  Josephus, 

34. 
Akiba,  a  Tanna,  23,  24-26. 
characteristics  and  history  of, 

24-26. 
school  of,  26. 
fable  used  by,  65. 
Alphabet  by,  175. 
Al-Farabi,  works  of,  translated, 

185. 
Alfassi.    See  Isaac  Alfassi. 
Alfonso    V    of    Portugal,    Abar- 

banel  with,  225. 
Alfonso  VI  of  Spain,   takes  To- 
ledo, 126. 


Alfonso    X    of    Spain,    employs 
Jews  as  translators,  150,  156. 
Almohades,    the,     a    Mohamme- 
dan sect,   134,   135. 
"  Alphabet    of    Rabbi    Akiba," 

Kabbalistic  work,  175. 
Amoraim,    the,    teachers   of    the 
Talmud,  44. 
characterized,  45-46. 
some  of,  enumerated,   46-52. 
Amram,  Gaon,  liturgist,  70. 
Anan,   the  son  of  David,   found- 
er of  Karaism,  75. 
Andalusia,     the    Spanish    Piyut 

in,  S5. 
"  Answers."        See  "  Letters  "; 

"  Responses." 
"  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,"   by 

Josephus,  34. 
Antonio  de  Montesinos,  and  the 

Ten  Tribes,  208,  247. 
Apion,  attacks  Judaism,  36. 
Apocrypha,     the,     addresses     of 
parents  to  children  in,   194. 
Aquila,     translates     the     Scrip- 
tures, 26. 
identical  with  Onkelos,  26-27. 
Aquinas,    Thomas,    studies    the 

"  Guide,"  140. 
Arabic,  used  by  the  Gaonim,  71. 
in  Jewish  literature,  83. 
poetry,  84. 
translation   of   the   Scriptures, 

91,  93,  94. 
commentary   on   the    Mishnah, 
135. 
Aragon,    Spanish  Piyut  in,   85. 
Aramaic,  translation  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch, 27. 
used  by  Josephus,  37. 
language  of  the  Talmud.   44. 
used  by  the  Gaonim,  71. 
translation    of    Scriptures    in 

the  synagogues,  94. 
language  of  the   Zohar,  173. 
Arbiia    Turim,    code    by    Jacob 

Asheri,  234,  239. 
Archimedes,     works    of,     trans- 
lated, 150,  185. 


264 


INDEX 


Aristotle,  teachings  of,  summar- 
ized, 140. 
interpreted  by   Averroes,   149. 
works  of,  translated,  1S5. 
Aruch,     the,     compiled    by    Ze- 

mach,   70. 
by    Nathan,    the    son    of    Ye- 

chiel,  121,   200. 
Asher,    the  son   of   Yechiel,    the 

will  of,   195-196. 
codifler,  234. 
Ashi,    Amora,    compiler    of    the 

Talmud,  51-52. 
Atonement,    the   Day   of,    hymn 

for,  162. 
"  Autobiography,"  the,  of  Jose- 

phus,  34. 
Averroes,    works   of,    translated, 

148,  149,  185. 
Azariah  di  Rossi,  historian,  221- 

222,  223. 
Azriel,   Kabbalist,    171. 
Azulai,   Chayim,   historian,   220. 

Babylonia,     Rabbinical     schools 

in,  44. 
centre  of  Jewish  learning,  49, 

68. 
loses  its  supremacy,  92. 
Bachya   Ibn    Pekuda,    works   of, 

translated,   148. 
ethical  work  by,  190. 
Bacon,    Roger,   on  the  scientific 

activity  of  the  Jew,  150. 
Bahir,   Kabbalistic  work,  171. 
Bar   Cochba,    Akiba   in  the   re- 
volt of,   24. 
"  Barlaam   and   Joshaphat,"    by 

Abraham    Ibn    Chisdai,    154- 

155. 
Baruch    of    Ratisbon,    Tossafist, 

161. 
Beast    Fables,    in    the    Midrash, 

64-67. 
examples  of,  65-66. 
Bechinath    Olam,     by    Yedaiah 

Bedaressi,   191-192. 
Benjamin    of   Tudela,    traveller, 

203. 
Benjamin     Nahavendi,     Karaite 

author,  77. 
Berachya    ha-Nakdan,     fabulist, 

156-157. 
Berlin,     under     Frederick     the 

Great,  254. 
Beruriah,   wife  of  Meir,    28. 
Bible,  the.     See  Scriptures,  the. 


Bidpai,  Fables  of,  and  the  Jews, 

155-156. 
Biur,   the,    commentary  on  the 

Pentateuch,  230. 
Bohemia,     the     Kalirian     Piyut 

in,  S5. 
"  Book  of  Creation,  The,"  Kab- 
balistic work,  175. 
"  Book    of    Creation,    Commen- 
tary  on   the,"    by    Saadiah, 

95. 
"  Book    of    Delight,    The,"    by 

Joseph  Zabara,  157-158. 
"  Book    of    Genealogies,    The," 

by  Abraham  Zacuto,  216. 
"  Book  of  Lights  and  the  High 

Beacons,     The,"     by    Kirki- 

sani,   80. 
"  Book  of  Principles,   The,"  by 

Joseph  Albo,  141. 
"  Book     of     Roots,     The,"     by 

David  Kimchi.  117. 
"  Book    Raziel,     The,"     Kabba- 
listic work,  175. 
"  Book  of  the  Exiled,  The,"  by 

Saadiah,  94. 
"  Book     of     the     Pious,     The," 

ethical  work,  191. 
"  Book  of   Tradition,   The,"   by 

Abraham  Ibn  Daud,  213-214. 
Braganza,     Duke    of,    friend    of 

Abarbanel,  226. 
Brahe,    Tycho,    friend    of   David 

Gans,  220. 
"  Branch    of    David,    The,"    by 

David  Gans,  219,  220-221. 
"  Breastplate       of      Judgment, 

The,"  part  of  the  Shulchan 

Aruch,  240. 
"  Brilliancv,"  Kabbalistic  work, 

171. 
Browne,     Sir    Thomas,     alluded 

to,  127. 
Buddha,  legend  of,  154-155. 
Burgundy,    the    Kalirian    Piyut 

in,  S5. 
Buxtorf,  as  translator,  148. 

"  Caged   Bird,   The,"   fable,   65. 
Cairo,  Old.     See  Fostat. 
Calendar,  the  Jewish,  arranged, 

48. 
"Call  of  the  Generations,  The," 

by  David  Conforte,  220. 
"  Captives   of   Hope,    The,"    by 

Penso,  246. 


LXDEX 


265 


Castile,    the   Spanish   Piyut   in, 

85. 
Catalonia,     the    Spanish    Piyut 

in,  85. 
"  Ceremonies    and    Customs    of 
the  Jews,"  by  Leon  da   Mo- 
dena,  220. 
Chacham  Zevi.   author  of   "  Re- 
sponses," 238. 
"  Chaff,     Straw,     and     Wheat," 

fable,  65. 
"  Chain  of  Tradition,   The,"  by 
Gedaliah    Ibn    Yachya,    220, 
222-223. 
Chanina,     the    son    of    Chama, 

Amora,  46. 
Charizi,  on  Chasdai,  99-100,  107. 
on  Moses  Ibn  Ezra,  114. 
as   a   poet,    131-132. 
influences  Immanuel  of  Rome, 

184. 
ethical  work  by,   189. 
geographical  notes  by,  200. 
Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut,   patron  of 
Moses  ben  Chanoch,   97. 
Charizi  on,  99-100,  107. 
activities   of,    100. 
as   a   patron   of  Jewish    learn- 
ing and  poetry,  100-101,  102. 
and  the  Chazars,  102-103. 
as  translator,  150. 
1    1 .1  dai     Crescas,     philosopher, 
141. 
studied  by  Spinoza,   251. 
Chassidim,  the.  new  saints,  176. 

hymns  by,  177. 
Chavim  Vital  Calabrese,  Kabba- 

list,   176. 
Chazars,    the,    and   Chasdai   Ibn 

Shaprut,  102-103. 
Chiddushiin,    Notes  on  the  Tal- 
mud, 234. 
Chiya,   Amora,  49. 
Chizzuk      Emunah,      by      Isaac 

Tmki,  81. 
Choboth  ha-Lebaboth,   by  Bach- 

ya  Ibn  Pekuda,  190. 
"  Choice    of    Pearls.    The,"    by 
S i.lomon    Ibn    Gebirol,    110, 
189. 
Choshen  ha-Mishpat,  part  of  the 

Shulchan  Aruch,  240. 
"  Chronicle  of  Achimaaz,"   213. 
Clement   VII,    pope,    and    David 

Reubeni,   207. 
"  Cluster    of    Cyprus     Flowers, 
A,"   by  Judah  Hadassi,   80. 


"  Cock  and  the  Bat,  The," 
fable,  65. 

Cohen,  Tobiah,  geographer,  209. 

"  Collections."  See  Machbe- 
roth. 

"  Come,  my  Friend,"  Sabbath 
hymn,  239.. 

"  Conciliator,   The,"  by  Manas- 
sch   ben    Israel,    245. 

"  Consolations  for  the  Tribula- 
tions of  Israel,"  by  Samuel 
Usque,  217-218. 

Constantine,  forbids  Jews  to 
enter  Jerusalem,  205. 

Cordova,  centre  of  Arabic  learn- 
ing, 96-97. 
a  Jewish  centre,   103,  112. 
in    the    hands    of    the    Almo- 
hades,  134. 

Corfu.   Abarbanel  in,  226. 

Council,  the  Great.  See  Synhc- 
drion,   the. 

Cromwell,  and  Manasseh  ben 
Israel,  248. 

Crusades,  the,  and  the  Jews  of 
France,  124. 

Cuzari,  by  Jehuda  Halevi,  127, 
139. 


Damascus,  Jehuda  Halevi  in, 
129. 

Daniel,  the  Book  of,  commen- 
tary on    48. 

Dante,  influences  Jewish  poets, 
179,  182,  1S3,  186. 

David,  the  son  of  Abraham, 
Karaite  author,  79. 

David  ben  Maimon,  brother  of 
Moses,  135. 

David  Abi  Zimra,  author  of 
"  Responses,"  238. 

David  Alroy,  pseudo-Messiah, 
203. 

David  Conforte,   historian,   220. 

David  Cans,  historian,  220-221. 

David  Kimehi,  grammarian,  117, 
123. 

David  Reubeni.   traveller,  207. 

"  Deeds  of  God,  The,"  by  Abar- 
banel, 229. 

Descartes,  studied  by  Spinoza, 
250. 

"  Deuteronomy."  See  "  Strong 
Hand,  The." 

"  Diarv  of  Eldad  the  Danite," 
201-203. 


266 


INDEX 


Dictionary,     Hebrew     rhyming, 
by  Saadiah,   93. 
See  also  Lexicon. 

Dioscorides,     works    of,     trans- 
lated, 150. 

Doria,    Andrea,   doge,    physician 
of,  219. 

Dramas  in  Hebrew,   246-247. 

Dunash,     the     son     of     Labrat, 
grammarian,  101,  123. 

Duran   family,   writers  of  "  Re- 
sponses," 237. 

Eben    Bochan,    by    Kalonymos, 

185. 
Eben  ha-Ezer,  part  of  the  Shul- 

chan  Aruch,  240. 
Egypt,  Jehuda  Halevi  in,  129. 
Eldad  the  Danite,  traveller,  201- 

203. 
Eleazar  of  Worms,   writer,  191. 
Eleazar  the  Levite,  will  of,  196- 

197. 
Eleazar,     the    son    of    Azariah, 

saying  of,  25-26. 
Eleazar,   the  son  of  Isaac,  will 

of,   194-195. 
Elias  del  Medigo,  critic,  222. 
Elias  Levita,  grammarian,  229. 
Elijah  Kapsali,  historian,  216. 
Elisha,   the  son  of  Abuya,   and 

Meir,  28. 
Emden,   Jacob,   author  of  "  Re- 
sponses," 238. 
Emek      ha-Baeha,      by      Joseph 

Cohen,  218,  219. 
Emunoth  ve-Deoth,  by  Saadiah, 

95. 
En  Yaakob,  by  Jacob  Ibn  Cha- 

bib,  192. 
Enan,   giant   in    "  The   Book   of 

Delight,"  157-158. 
England,   the  Kalirian  Piyut  in, 
85. 
Jews    re-admitted    into,    244. 
"  Ennoblement     of     Character, 
The,"   by   Solomon   Ibn   Ge- 
birol,  110. 
Eshkol     ha-Kopher,     by    Judah 

Hadassi,  80. 
Esthori  Parchi,  explorer  of  Pal- 
estine, 204-205. 
Ethical    Wills,    prevalence    and 
character   of,    193-194. 
examples    of,    and    quotations 
from,  194-198. 
"  Ethics,  the,"  by  Spinoza,  251. 


Euclid,     works    of,    translated, 

149. 
Eusebius,   used  in   "  Josippon," 

214. 
"  Examination    of   the    World," 

by   Yedaiah   Bedaressi,    191- 

192. 
Exilarchs,   the,   official  heads  of 

the  Persian  Jews,  72. 
"  Eye  of  Jacob,  The,"  by  Jacob 

Ibn  Chabib,   192. 
Ezra,  Kabbalist,  171. 

Fables.     See  Beast  Fables;  Fox 

Fables. 
"  Faith    and    Philosophy,"     by 

Saadiah,  95. 
Fathers,      the     Christian,      and 

Simlai,  47. 
Fayum,    birthplace    of    Saadiah, 

91. 
Ferdinand    and    Isabella,    Abar- 

banel  with,  226. 
Fez,  the  Maimon  family  at,  135. 
Fiesco,  rebellion  of,  217. 
Folk-tales,  diffusion  of,  153. 
Fostat,   Maimonides  at,   135. 
"  Foundation     of     the     World, 

The,"  by  Moses  Zacut,   246. 
"  Fountain    of    Life,    The,"    by 

Solomon  Ibn  Gebirol,  110. 
"  Four    Rows,    The,"    code    by 

Jacob   Asheri,    234,   239. 
"  Fox    and    the    Fishes,    The," 

fable,  65. 
"  Fox   as   Singer,    The,"    fable, 

66. 
Fox   Fables,   by   Meir,   64. 
by    Berachva    ha-Nakdan,  156- 

157. 
France,    the   Kalirian   Piyut  in, 

85. 
a  Jewish  centre,  116,  119,  124. 
Jewish  schools   of,    destroyed, 

124. 
Frankel,     teacher     of     Mendels- 
sohn, 253. 
Frederick    II,    emperor,    patron 

of  Anatoli,   149. 
Frederick  the  Great,  the  Berlin 

of,  254. 

Galen,  works  of,  translated,  150, 
185. 

Galilee,  centre  of  Jewish  learn- 
ing, 20. 


IADEX 


267 


Galilee,  continued. 
explored    by    Esthori    Parchi, 
205. 
Gaonim,      the,     heads     of     the 
Babylonian  schools,  68. 
work  of,  68-69. 

literary  productions  of,   69-71. 
language   used   by,   71. 
"  Letters  "    of,   71-74. 
religious  heads  of  the  Jews  of 

Persia,  72. 
as  writers,  74. 

Karaite  controversies  with,  78. 
works  of,   collected,   104. 
analyze   the  Talmud,    121. 
Gedaliah  Ibn  Yachya,  historian, 

222-223. 
Gemara.     See  Talmud,  the. 
Genesis,     commentary     on,     by 

Saadiah,  94. 
Geographical    literature    among 

the  Jews,  200. 
German         Jews,         stagnation 

among,  254. 
Germany,  the  Kalirian  Piyut  in, 

85. 
Gersonides.     See   Levi,    the   son 

of  Gershon. 
"  Glory   to    the    Virtuous,"    by 

Luzzatto,  247. 
Graetz,    H.,    quoted,   21,   168. 
Grammar,     Hebrew,    works    on, 

77,  79,  117. 
Granada,    Jewish    literary    cen- 
tre, 112. 
Greece,    the   Kalirian    Piyut   in, 

85. 
Greek,  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, 26. 
used  by  Josephus,  37. 
used    in    the    Sibylline    books, 

39. 
used  among  the  Jews,  48. 
Grotius,  friend  of  Manasseh  ben 

Israel,  245. 
Guarini,      influences      Luzzatto, 

246. 
"  Guide  of  the  Perplexed,  The," 
by    Moses    Maimonides,    136, 
139-141,  142. 

Habus,     Samuel     Ibn     Nagdela 

minister  to,  103. 
Hagadah,  the  poetic  element  of 

the  Talmud,  47. 
Uui,   the  last  Gaon,  71. 


Halachah.   the  legal  element  of 

the  Talmud,  47,   55. 
Halachoth     Gedoloth,     compila- 
tion   of    Halachic    decisions, 
73. 
Haman,   a  fable  concerning,  66. 
Hassan,    the    son    of    Mashiach, 

Karaite  author,   7S,   79. 
"  Heart     Duties,"     by     Bachya 

Ibn  Pekuda,  190. 
Hebrew,    the,    of    the    Mishnah, 
29. 
used  by  the  Gaonim,  71. 
the  language  of  prayer,  83. 
influenced  by  Kalir,  88. 
translations  into,    145,    146. 
a  living  language,  147. 
studied  by  Christians,  230. 
Heilprin,       Ycchiel,      historian, 

220. 
Heine,    quoted,    12S. 
"  Hell    and   Eden,"    by    Imman- 

uel  of  Rome,  IS'.',   1st- is:,. 
"Higher    Criticism,"    the,     fa- 
ther of,  116. 
Hillel  I,   parable  of,   62. 
Ilillel    II,    arranges    the    Jewish 

Calendar,  48. 
Hippocrates,     works    of,     trans- 
lated, 150. 
Historical  works,   33-34. 
Historical    writing    among    the 

Jews,  211-212,  213,  217. 
"  History    of    France    and    Tur- 
key," by  Joseph  Cohen,  217. 
"History  of  the  Jewish  Kings," 

by  Justus,  34. 
"  History   of  the   Ottoman   Em- 
pire,"    by     Elijah    Kapsali, 
216. 
Holland,   a  Jewish  centre,   243. 
Homiletics,   in  the  Midrash,   57. 

in  Sheeltoth,   70. 
"  Hope     of     Israel,     The,"     by 
Manasseh    ben    Israel,    208- 
209,  248. 
Hosannas,     the    Day    of,     hymn 

for,  89. 
Huct,    friend    of    Manasseh    ben 

Israel,  245. 
Huna,  Amora,  49-50. 

Ibn  Roshd.     See  Averrocs. 

Icabo,  character  in  Samuel  Us- 
que's poem,  218. 

Iggaron,  dictionary  by  David, 
79. 


268 


INDEX 


Ikkarim,   by  Joseph  Albo,  141. 
Immanuel,   the  son  of  Solomon, 
Italian     Jewish     poet,     179, 
180. 
life  of,  180-181. 
works  of,  182-185. 
Isaac  the  Elder,  Tossafist,   161. 
Isaac,   the  son  of   Asher,   Tossa- 
fist, 161. 
Isaac    Abarbanel,    in    Portugal, 
225-226. 
writes  commentaries,  226,  227. 
in  Castile,  226. 
in  Naples  and   Corfu,   226-227. 
in  Venice,  227. 
as  a  writer,  227-22S. 
as  an  exegete,  228,  220. 
as  a  philosopher,   229. 
Isaac     Aboab,     ethical     writer, 

192. 
Isaac    Alfassi,     Talmudist,     121- 

122. 
Isaac  Lurya,  Kabbalist,  176. 
Isaac     Troki,     Karaite     author, 

81. 
Isaiah   Hurwitz,    Kabbalist,   17C. 
Isaiah,    the    Book    of,    Abraham 

Ibn  Ezra  on,  116. 
Islam,  sects  of,  75-76. 
Israel  Baalshem,  Kabbalist,  176- 

177. 
Israel  Isserlein,  author  of  "  Re- 
sponses,"   237. 
"  It     was     at     Midnight,"     by 

Jannai,    86. 
Italian    Jewish    literature,    178- 

1S0,  187. 
Italy,     the    Kalirian    Piyut    in, 

85. 
"  Itinera  Mundi,"   by   Abraham 

Parissol,  206. 
"  Itinerary,"     by    Benjamin    of 
Tudela,  203. 


Jabneh.     See   Jamnia. 

Jacob   Ibn   Chabib,    writer,   192. 

Jacob   Anatoli,    translator,   148. 
patron  and  friend  of,  149. 

Jacob   Asheri,    compiler   of   the 
Turim,  234,  239. 

Jacob    Weil,     author    of    "  Re- 
sponses,"   237. 

Jacobs,  Mr.  Joseph,   quoted,  65, 
66,  156,  158-159. 

Jair  Chayim   Bacharach,   author 
of  "  Responses,"  238. 


Jamnia,  centre  of  Jewish  learn- 
ing, 19-22. 
Jannai,  originator  of  the  Piyut, 
86. 
date  of,  87. 
Japhet,  the  son  of  Ali,   Karaite 

author,  78,  79. 
Jayme    I    of    Aragon,    orders    a 

public  disputation,  164. 
Jehuda  Halevi,  models  of,  107. 
subjects  of,  109. 
prominence  of,  126. 
youth  of,  126-127. 
as    a    philosopher    and    physi- 
cian, 127-128,  139. 
longs  for  Jerusalem,  12S. 
on  his  journey,  128-129. 
quotation  from,  129-130. 
works  of,    translated,   148. 
Jerome,  under  Jewish  influence, 

4S. 
"  Jerusalem,"    by    Mendelssohn, 

256. 
"  Jewish    War,    The,"    by    Jus- 
tus, 34. 
"  Jews,  The,"  by  Lessing,  256. 
Jochanan,   the  son  of   Napacha, 

Amora,  46,  47,  51. 
Jochanan,    the    son    of    Zakkai, 
characterized,   20-21,   24. 
as  a  Tanna,  .23-24. 
Jochanan     Aleman,     Kabbalist, 

174. 
John  of  Capua,   translator,    155. 
Joseph  Ibn  Caspi,  will  of,  196. 
Joseph     Ibn     Verga,     historian, 

218-219. 
Joseph  al-Bazir,  Karaite  author, 

78,  79. 
Joseph  Albo,    philosopher,   141. 
Joseph    Cohen,     historian,     216- 

217,  219. 
Joseph  Delmedigo,   on  Gedaliah 

Ibn  Yachya,  222. 
Joseph      Karo,      prohibits      the 
Machberoth,  183. 
compiler     of     the     Shulchan 

Aruch,  233. 
life  of,  238-239. 
See   Shulchan    Aruch,    the. 
Joseph  Kimchi,  exegete,   116. 
Joseph  Zabara,  poet,   157-158. 
geographical    notes   by,    200. 
Josephus,  Flavius,  historian,  34- 
38. 
works   of,    34. 
characterized,  35-36, 


INDEX 


269 


Josephus,  Flavius,  continued. 
champion  of  Judaism,   36,  37- 

3S. 
style  of,  36-37. 
language  used  by,  37. 
used  in  "  Josippon,"  214. 
Joshua,  the  son  of  Levi,  Amora, 

47. 
"  J.isippon,"    a  romance,    214. 
Judah  the  Prince,   a  Tanna,   23, 
28-29. 
characterized,  28-29. 
Judah    Ibn    Ezra,    anti-Karaite, 

214. 
Judah    Ibn    Tibbon    as    a    trans- 
lator,  14(1,    117. 
as  a  physician,  14G-147. 
Judah     Ibn     Yerga,     chronicler, 

218. 
Judah  Chayuj,   grammarian,  101. 
Judah    Chassid,    ethical    writer, 

191. 
Judah   Hadassi,    Karaite   author, 

80-81. 
Judah    Minz,    author    of    "  Re- 
sponses,"  2:17. 
Judah  Romano,  school-man,  185. 
Judaism,     after    the    loss    of    a 
national  centre,   21. 
championed   by   Josephus,    36, 

37-38. 
philosophy  of,  77. 
Justus     of     Tiberias,     historian, 
works  of,   34. 

Kabbala,   mysticism,   170. 

development  of,  171. 

and  Christian  scholars,  174. 

t  he  later,  175. 
Kalila    ve-Dimna.      See   Bidpai, 

Fables  of. 
Kalir,  new-Hebrew  poet,  85,  $6, 
37. 

date  of,  87. 

style  of,  87-88,  107. 

subject-matter   of,    88-89. 

quotation   from,   89-90. 
Kalirian  Piyut,   the,   85. 
Kalonymos,   the  son  of  Kalony- 
mos,    translator,    149,    185. 

as  poet,  179,  180,  185-186. 
Kant,    and    Mendelssohn,    257. 

Kaphtor    va-Pherach,     by     Es- 

thori  Parchi,  205. 
Karaism,  rise  of,  75-76. 
a    reaction    against    tradition, 
76. 


Karaism,   conti 
defect  of,  76. 
Literary  influence  of,  77. 
history  of,  80. 

Rabbinite   opposition   to,   82. 

opposed  by  Saadiah,  91,  92. 

Kepler,   correspondent  of   David 

Cans,  220. 
Kether    Malchuth,    bv    Solomon 
Ibn  Gebirol,  110." 
quotation  from,  111-112. 
Kimchi.       See    Joseph;     Moses; 

David. 
Kirkisani,   Karaite  author,   80. 
Kodashim,    order    of    the    Mish- 

nah,  31. 
Kore  ha-Doroth,   by  David  Con- 
forte,  220. 

"  Lamp     of    Light,     The,"     by 

Isaac   Aboab,   192. 
Landau,      Ezekiel,      author      of 

"  Responses,"  23S. 
Lavater,  and  Mendelssohn,  258. 
"  Law  of  Man,  The,"  by  Nach- 

manides,  166. 
Lecha  Dodi,  Sabhath  hymn,  239. 
Lecky,  on  the  scientific  activity 

of  the  Jews    150. 
Leon  da  Modena,  historian,  220. 
Leon,      Messer,      physician      and 

writer,  187. 
Leshon    Limmudim,    by    Sahal, 

the  son  of  Mazliach,  79. 
"  Lesser    Sanctuary,    The,"    by 

Moses  Rieti,  186. 
Lessing,    and    Mendelssohn,    255- 

256. 
"  Letter,"     by     Sherira,     70-71, 

212. 
"  Letter   of    Advice,    The,"    by 

Solomon  Alami,  197-198. 
"Letter  of   Aristeas,"   by  Aza- 

riah   di   Rossi,   223. 
"  Li  Hers,"  the,  of  the  Oaonim, 

scope  of,  71-73. 
style  of,  74. 

raphical  notes  in,   200. 
and  the  "  Responses,"  234. 
Levi,   the  son  of  Gershon,  phil- 
osopher, ill. 
Lexicon,   by  Sahal,  79. 

bv    David,    79. 
by  David  Kimchi,  117. 
Lexicon,  Talmudical.    See  Aruch, 
70. 


270 


INDEX 


"  Light  of  God,  The,"  by  Chas- 

dai  Crescas,   141. 
"  Light  of  the   Eyes,   The,"   by 
Azariah   di   Rossi,    220,    223. 
Literature,    Jewish,    oral,    21-22. 
principle  of,  23-24. 
under   the   influence   of   Kara- 
ism,  77. 
See   Mishnah,   the. 
Liturgy,   the,    earliest   additions 
to,  83. 
See  Piyut,  the. 
Lorraine,  the  Kalirian  Piyut  in, 

85. 
Lost   Ten   Tribes,   book  on,   201. 

in  Brazil,  208. 
Lucas,    Mrs.    Alice,    translations 

by,  quoted,  63. 
Lucian,     used    in    "  Josippon," 

214. 
Luzzatto,    Moses    Chayim,    Kab- 
balist  and  dramatist,   176. 
ethical  work  by,  193. 
as  dramatist,   246-247. 
Lvdda,    centre  of  Jewish  learn- 
ing, 20. 

Machberoth,     by     Immanuel    of 

Rome,  182-185. 
Maggid,   familiar  of  Joseph  Ka- 

ro,  239. 
Maharil,   collection  of  Customs, 

238. 
Maimonides,     Moses,     the     fore- 
runner of,  95. 
youth  of,  134-135. 
activities   of,    135-136. 
disinterestedness  of,   136. 
attacks  on,   137,   141. 
prominence  of,  137-138. 
as  a  philosopher,  138-141,  142, 

151. 
works  of,  translated,   148. 
and  Nachmanides,  163. 
studied  by  Spinoza,  250. 
Mainz,  Rashi  at,  122. 
Majorca,   the   Spanish   Piyut  in, 

85. 
Manasseh    ben    Israel,     and    the 
Lost     Tribes,     20S-209,     243, 
247-248. 
political  activity  of,   244,  248. 
life  of,   244. 
attainments    and    friends    of, 

245. 
activities  of,   247. 
as  a  pamphleteer,  248-249. 


Manasseh  ben  Israel,    continued. 

and  Spinoza,   250. 
Manetho,    historian,    and    Jose- 

phus,  36. 
Massechtoth,     tractates    of    the 

Mishnah,  31. 
"  Maxims  of  the  Philosophers," 

by  Charizi,   189. 
Mebo  ha-Talmud,  by  Samuel  Ibn 

Nagdela,  104. 
Mechilta,   a  Midrashic  work,  57. 
Megillath  Taanith.      See"  Scroll 

of  Fasting,   The." 
Meir,  a  Tanna,  23,  27-28. 
characterized,  27-28. 
fables  by,  64. 
Meir  of  Rothenburg,    poet,   131, 
235-237. 
writer  of   "  Responses,"   235. 
"  Memorial    Books,"    historical 

sources,  216. 
Menachem,    the    son    of    Zaruk, 
grammarian,    100,    101,    123. 
Mendelssohn,       Moses,      antago- 
nized   by    Ezekiel    Landau, 
238. 
life  of,  253. 
objects   to    the    separation    of 

culture  and   religion,    254. 
service    of,    to    Judaism,    254- 

255. 
and   Lessing,  255-256. 
style  of,  257. 
and  Lavater,  258. 
translates      the      Pentateuch, 

258-259. 
circle  of,  259. 
influence   of,    259-260. 
Menorath     ha-Maor,      by     Isaac 

Aboab,  192. 
Meiir    Enayim,     by    Azariah    di 

Rossi,  220. 
Meshullam    of   Lunel,    patron  of 

learning,  146,  147. 
Messiah,   the,   Joshua  on,   47. 
Messilath    Yesharim,    by    Moses 

Chayim  Luzzatto,  193. 
Metre,   in  Hebrew  poetry,   84. 
Michlol,  by  David  Kimchi,  117. 
Midrash,   the,   characterized,  55- 
57. 
poetical,    56,   57. 
popular  homiletics,  57. 
works  called,   57-58. 
style  of,   58-59. 
proverbs  in,  59-60. 
parables  in,  60-64. 


INDEX 


271 


Midrash,  continued. 
beast  fables  in,  64-67. 
and  the  Piyut,  86,  88-89. 
used  by   Rashi,   123,   124. 
Midrash   Haggadol,   a   Midrashic 

work,  58. 
Midrash    Rabbah,     a    Midrashic 

work,  58. 
Mikdash  Meat,  by  Moses  Rieti, 

186. 
Minhag,      established     by      the 

Gaonim,  69. 
Miphaloth     Elohim,     by     Abar- 

banel,  229. 
Mishnah,     a    paragraph    of    the 

Mishnah,  31. 
Mishnah,  the,   origin  of,  22. 
principle   of,   24. 
compiled  by  Rabbi,  28. 
contents  and  style  of,  29-31. 
divisions  of,  31. 
development  of,   43.     See  Tal- 
mud,   the. 
date  of,  52. 
Sherira  on,   70. 
Maimon's      commentary      on, 

135. 
commentary  on,   206. 
personified,  239. 
Mishneh    Torah.      See    "  Strong 

Hand,  The." 
Mocd,  order  of  the  Mishnah,  31. 
Mohammedanism     assumed     by 

the  Maimon  family,   135. 
Moreh   Nebuehim.     See    "  Guide 

of  the  Perplexed,   The." 
Moses,     teachings    of,     summar- 
ized, 140. 
Moses   of   Leon,    author   of   the 

Zohar,  172,  173. 
Moses,     the    son     of    Chanoch, 
founds  a  school  at  Cordova, 
97. 
Moses,  the  son  of  Maimon.     See 

Maimonides,   Moses. 
Moses  Ibn  Ezra,   and  the  Scrip- 
tures,  107,  109. 
life  of,  112-113. 
quotation  from,  113-114. 
hymns  of,  11 1. 
Charizi  on,  114. 
Moses    Ibn    Tibbon,     translator, 

148. 
Moses       Alshech,       homilctical 

writer,  230. 
Moses  Kimchi,   grammarian,  117. 


Moses    Minz,    author    of    "  Re- 
sponses,"   2o7. 

Moses  Rieti,  poet,  186-187. 

Mysticism,    an   element    of   reli- 
gion, 169-170. 
in  Judaism,  170. 

Nachmanides,     Moses,     Talmud- 
ist,   160-168. 
on    the    French    Rabbis,    160, 

162. 
as  a  poet,  162. 
gentleness  of,    163. 
in  a  disputation,   163-164. 
in  Palestine,    105. 
as  an  exegete,   165-108. 
teacher  of,   171. 
will  of,  195. 
Nahum,  poet,  109. 
"  Name     of     the     Great     Ones, 
The,"    by    Chayim    Azulai, 
220. 
Naples,   Abarbanel  in,   226. 
Nashim,    order  of   the   Mishnah, 

31. 
"  Nathan   the   Wise,"    by   Les- 

sing,  256. 
Nathan,     the     son    of     Yechiel, 

lexicographer,    121. 
Nehardea,      centre     of     Jewish 

learning,   44. 
Nehemiah     Chayun,     Kabbalist, 

176. 
New-Hebrew,   as   a  literary  lan- 
guage, 83. 
New-Hebrew     poetry,     and     the 
Scriptures,  107. 
characteristics   of,    108-109. 
after  Jehuda    Halevi,    130-131, 

132. 
See  also   Piyut. 
Nezikin,   order  of  the   Mishnah, 

31. 
Nicholas,  monk,  translator,  150. 
"  Novelties,"  Notes  on  the  Tal- 
mud, 234. 
Numeo,     character     in     Samuel 
Usque's  poem,  218. 

Obadiah  of  Bertinoro,   Rabbi  of 

Jerusalem,  206. 
Omar,     forbids    Jews     to    enter 

Jerusalem,  205. 
Onkelos.      See  Aquila. 
Orach     Chavim,     part     of     the 

Shulchan   Aruch,  239,  240. 


272 


INDEX 


"  Order  of  Generations,  The," 
by   Yechiel   Heilprin,    220. 

"  Order  of  the  Tannaim  and 
Amoraim,"  212. 

Orders  of  the  Mishnah,  31. 

Origen,  under  Jewish  influence, 
48. 

Pablo   Christiani,    convert,    and 

Nachmanides,  164. 
Palestine,     the    Kalirian     Piyut 
in,  85. 
the  Maimon  family  in,  135. 
explored,  204-205. 
open  to  Jews,   205-206. 
Parables,  in  the  Midrash,  60-64. 

examples  of,  62,  63. 
Parallelism     of     line,     in     the 

Scriptures,  108. 
Passover,   hymn   for,   86. 
"  Path  of  Life,    The,"    part  of 
the     Shulchan     Aruch,     239, 
240. 
"  Path    of   the    Upright,    The," 
by  Moses  Chayim   Luzzatto, 
193. 
Penso,  Joseph  Felix,   dramatist, 

246. 
Pentateuch,  the,  translated,  27, 
247,  258. 
as  viewed  by  Meir,  27. 
commentary  on,   166-168,   230. 
See  also   Scriptures,  the. 
Perakim,   chapters  of  the  Mish- 
nah, 31. 
Perez  of  Corbeil,  Tossafist,  161. 
"  Perfection,"    by    David    Kim- 

chi,  117. 
Persia,    the   Jews   of,    independ- 
ent, 72. 
See  also  Babylonia. 
Pesikta,  a  Midrashic  work,   58. 
Petachiah    of    Hatisbon,    travel- 
ler, 204. 
"  Phsdo,  or  the  Immortality  of 
the  Soul,"  by  Mendelssohn, 
257. 
Philo,  on  Judaism,  38. 
Philosophy,   Jewish,   created  by 

Saadiah,  91,  95. 
Pico  di  Mirandola,  and  the  Kab- 

bala,  174. 
Piyut,    the,    characteristics    of, 
83-84. 
two  types  of,  84-85. 
Kalirian,  85. 
Spanish,  85. 


Piyut,  continued. 
creator  of,  85-86. 
by  Samuel  Ibn  Nagdela,  105. 
in  Italy,   186. 
Poetry.    See    New-Hebrew   poet- 
ry; Piyut. 
Poland,    the   Kalirian   Piyut   in, 

85. 
Porphyry,  on  the  Book  of  Dan- 
iel, 48. 
Prayer-Book,    the,    compiled    by 
Amram,  70. 
arranged   by   Saadiah,   95. 
Prester  John,  Eldad  on,  203. 
"  Prince     and     Nazirite,"      by 
Abraham    Ibn    Chisdai,    154- 
155. 
Provence,  the  Spanish  Piyut  in, 
85. 
Jewish  learning   in,   146. 
Proverbs,  in  the  Midrash,  59-60. 

quoted,  59. 
Psalms,    the,    and    new-Hebrew 
poetry,  104-105,   108. 
mysticism  in,  169,  170. 
Ptolemy,    works    of,    translated, 

149,  185. 
Pumbeditha,    centre    of    Jewish 

learning,  44,  72. 
"  Purim     Tractate,     The,"     by 

Kalonymos,  1S5-186. 
Pygmies,     the,     discovered     by 
Tobiah   Cohen,    209. 

"  Questions   and   Answers,"    de- 
cisions, 73. 

Rab.     See  Abba  Areka. 

Kabba,    the    son    of    Nachmani, 

Amora,  51. 
Rabbi.     See  Judah  the  Prince. 
Rabbinical    schools,    in    Babylo- 
nia, 44. 
Rabina,  Amora,  compiler  of  the 

Talmud,   51,   52. 
Ralbag.      See   Levi,    the    son    of 

Gershon. 
Ramban.       See       Nachmanides, 

Moses. 
Rashbam.        See     Samuel      ben 

Meir. 
Rashi     (R.     Shelomo     Izchaki), 

importance   of,  119. 
style  of,  119-120. 
characteristics  of,   120-121. 
life  of,   122. 
as  an  exegete,  123-124. 


INDEX 


VI 


Rashi,  continued. 
descendants  of,  124,  161. 

Rava,  Amora,  51. 

Rembrandt,  friend  of  Manasseh 
ben  Israel,  245. 

Renaissance,  the,  and  Italian 
Jewish  literature,  178,  182, 
184,  187. 

Renan,  on  the  students  of  Aver- 
roes,  148. 

"  Responses,"  on  religious  sub- 
jects,  234-235,   237-238. 

Reuchlin,  Johann,  and  the  Kab- 
bala,  174. 

Rhyme,  in  Hebrew  poetry,  84. 

"  Rod  of  Judah,  The,"  'by  the 
Ibn   Vergas,   218-219. 

Rokeach,  by  Eleazar  of  Worms, 
191. 

"  Royal  Crown,  The,"  by  Solo- 
mon Ibn  Gebirol,  110. 
quotation  from,    111-112. 

Saadiah,  Gaon,  70,  91-97. 
activities  of,   91,  95. 
opposes  Karaism,   92,   94. 
translates   the    Scriptures,    93, 

94. 
style  of,  93. 
conflict  of,  with  the  Exilarch, 

95. 
arranges   a   prayer-book,    95. 
as  a  philosopher,  95-96,  139. 
works  of,    translated,   148. 
Sabbatai    Zevi,    and    the    Kab- 
bala,   175. 
opponents  of,   238. 
"  Sacred      Letter,      The,"      by 

Naclimanides,  165. 
Safed,  Kabbalist  centre,  175. 
Sahal,  the  son  of  Mazliach,  77- 

78. 
Salman,   the  son  of  Yerucham, 

Karaite  author,  78. 
Salonica,   Kabbalist  centre,   175. 
"  Salvation    of    his    Anointed," 

by  Abarbanel,   229. 
"  Samson,"   by  Luzzatto,  246. 
Samuel,   Amora,   47-48,  51. 

astronomer,  48. 
Samuel,     the     son     of     Chofni, 

Gaon  and  author,  71. 
Samuel  ben  Meir,  exegete,  124. 
Samuel  Ibn  Nagdela,  Nagid  and 
minister,  103. 
as  a  scholar,  104. 
aa  a  poet,  104-105. 


Samuel  Ibn  Tibbon,   translator, 
147,  148. 
son-in-law  of,  148. 

Samuel   Usque,  poet,  217-218. 

Scientific  activity  of  the  Jews, 
151. 

Scot,  Michael,  friend  of  Anatoli, 
149,  151. 

Scriptures,   the,    translated  into 
Greek,  26. 
commentaries  on,   77,  79,  123, 

229. 
translated     into     Arabic,     91, 

93,  94. 
translations   of,    in   the   syna- 
gogues, 94. 
and  new-Hebrew  poetry,  107- 

108. 
characteristics   of   the    poetry 

of,  108. 
addresses   of   parents   to   chil- 
dren in,  194. 
See  also    Pentateuch,   the. 

"  Scroll  of  Fasting,  The,"  con- 
tents, character,  and  pur- 
pose of,   40-41. 

Sedarim,  order  of  the  Mish- 
nah,  31. 

Seder  ha-Doroth,  by  Yechiel 
Heilprin,  220. 

Sefer  Dikduk,  by  Sahal,  the  son 
of  Mazliach,  79. 

Sefer  ha-Chassidim,  ethical 
work,  191. 

Sefer  ha-Galui,  by  Saadiah,  93. 

Sefer  ha-Kabbalah,  by  Abraham 
Ibn  Daud,  213-214. 

Sefer  Yetsirah,  by  Saadiah,  95. 
Kabbalistic,  175. 

Seleucid  era,  the,  abolished, 
238. 

Selichoth,  elegies,  Zunz  on,  215- 
216. 

Sepphoris,  centre  of  Jewish 
learning,  20. 

Septuagint,   the,   style  of,  26. 

Seville,  Jewish  literary  centre, 
112. 

Shaaloth  u-Teshuboth,  decis- 
ions, 73. 

Shalsheleth  ha-Kabbalah,  by 
Gedaliah   Ibn   Yachya,   220. 

Shebet  Jehudah,  by  the  Ibn 
Vergas,   218-219. 

Sheeltoth,  by  Achai,  69-70. 

Sheloh,   by  Isaiah  Hurwitz    176. 

Shelomo  Izchaki.    See  Rashi. 


18 


274 


INDEX 


Sherira,  Gaon  and  historian    70- 

71. 
Sheshet  family,  writers  of  "  Re- 
sponses," 237. 
"  Shields  of  the   Mighty,  The," 
by      Abraham      de      Porta 
Leone,  220. 
Shiites,  the,  Mohammedan  sect, 

75. 
Shilte    ha-Gibborim,    by    Abra- 
ham de  Porta  Leone,  220. 
Shulchan   Aruch,    the,    publica- 
tion of,   232. 
scope  of,  232-233. 
sources  of,  233-234. 
parts  of,  239-240. 
value  of,  241. 
Sibylline  books,  the  Jewish,  38- 
40. 
on  the  Jewish  religion,  38-39. 
language  of,  39. 
quotations  from,  39,    40. 
Siddur,   the,    compiled   by   Am- 

ram,  70. 
Sifra,  a  Midrashic  work,  57. 
Sifre,  a  Midrashic  work,  57. 
Simlai,   Amora,   47,  48. 
Simon,     the     son     of     Lakish, 

Amora,  46. 
Simon,    the   son   of  Yochai,   al- 
leged author  of  the  Zohar, 
172. 
Solomon     the    son    of   Adereth, 
writer  of  "  Responses,"  235. 
Solomon    Ibn    Gebirol,    and    the 
Scriptures,   107. 
subjects  of,   109. 
life  of,  109-110. 
works  of,  110. 
quotations  from,  111-112. 
works  of,   translated,   148. 
Solomon  Ibn  Verga,  chronicler, 

218. 
Solomon  Alami,   ethical  writer, 

197-198. 
Solomon  Alkabets,  poet,  239. 
Solomon  Molcho,   and  the  Kab- 

bala,   175,   207. 
Song   of   Songs,    the,    and  new- 
Hebrew  poetry,  107. 
Spain,    Moorish,    the    centre    of 

Jewish  learning,  96-97. 
Spanish-Jewish      poetry.        See 

New-Hebrew   poetry. 
Spanish  Piyut,   the,   85. 
Speyer,  Rashi  at,   122. 
Spinoza,    Baruch,    influenced   by 
Ohasdai  Crescas,  141. 


Spinoza,    Baruch,  continued. 
philosopher,   243,  244,  249-251. 
life  of,  250-251. 
works  of,  251. 
Steinschneider,    Dr.,    on   Jewish 

translators,  144. 
"  Stone  of  Help,  The,"  part  of 

the  Shulchan  Aruch,  240. 
Strabo,    used    in    "  Josippon," 

214. 
"  Strengthening        of        Faith, 

The,"   by  Isaac  Troki,  81. 
"  Strong  Hand,  The,"  by  Moses 

Maimonides,      136-137,      139, 

232. 
"  Strong  Tower,  The,"  by  Luz- 

zatto,  246. 
Sunnites,      the,      Mohammedan 

sect,  75. 
Sura,  centre  of  Jewish  learning, 

44,  72. 
Saadiah  at,  91,  96. 
Synhedrion,  the,  at  Jamnia,  19- 

20. 

"  Table   Prepared."     See    Shul- 
chan Aruch,  the. 
Tables    of    Alfonso,    in    Hebrew, 

221. 
Tachkemoni,    by    Charizi,    131- 

132,  183. 
Talmud,     the,    commentary    on 
the  Mishnah,  43. 
language  of,  44. 
two  works,  44. 
the  teachers  of,  44. 
character  of,  45,  50,   53. 
the  two  aspects  of,  47. 
and    Rab    and    Samuel,    47-48, 

51. 
influences  traceable   in,   50-51. 
compilation   of,    51-52. 
beast  fables  in,  64-67. 
lexicon  of,  70. 
and  the  Piyut,  86. 
commentary     on,     by     Rashi, 

120. 
geographical  notes  in,  200. 
Notes  on,  234. 
Talmud,   the   Babylonian,   44. 

the  larger  work,  44. 
Talmud,  the  Jerusalem,  44. 
Tarn  of  Rameru,   Tossaflst,   161. 
Tanchuma,    a    Midrashic    work, 

58. 
Tannaim,    the,    teachers   of  the 
Mishnah,   22. 


INDEX 


75 


Tannaim,  continued. 

four  generations  of,   23. 

Targum  Onkelos,  Aramaic  trans- 
lation of  the  Pentateuch,  27. 

Tarshish,  by  Moses  Ibn  Ezra, 
114. 

"  Teacher  of  Knowledge,  The," 
part  of  the  Shulchan  Aruch, 
239-240. 

Teharoth,  order  of  the  Mishnah, 
31. 

Teshuboth.  See  "  Letters," 
the;   "  Responses,"   the. 

"  Theologico-Political  Trac- 

tate," by  Spinoza,  244,  251. 

Tiberias,  centre  of  Jewish 
learning,   20. 

Todros  Abulafia,  Kabbalist,  171. 

Toledo,    Jewish   literary   centre, 
112. 
cosmopolitanism  of,  126. 

"  Topaz,  The,"  by  Moses  Ibn 
Ezra,    114. 

Torah,  the.    See  Pentateuch,  the. 

Tossafists,  the,  French  Talmud- 
ists,   160-161. 

Tossafuth,   Additions,   161. 

"  Touchstone,  The,"  by  Ka- 
lonymos,  185. 

Tractates  of  the  Mishnah,  31. 

Tradition,    the   Jewish,    investi- 
gated at  Jamnia,  21. 
Sherira  on,  70. 
reaction  against,  76. 
-     See  Mishnah,   the. 

Translations,   value  of,   144. 
made    by    Jews,    144-145,    146, 
149-151,   153-154,   155-156. 

"  Travels,"  by  Petachiah  of 
Ratisbon,  204. 

Troyes,    Rashi   at,    122. 

"  Two  Tables  of  the  Covenant, 
The,"  by  Isaiah  Hurwitz, 
176. 

Tyre,  Jehuda  Halevi  in,  129. 

Usha,  centre  of  Jewish  learn- 
ing, 20. 

"  Valley  of  Tears,  The,"  by 
Joseph  Cohen,  218,  219. 

Venice,   Abarbanel  in,  227. 

Vindiciae  Judeorum,  by  Manas- 
seh  ben  Israel,  244,  249,  258. 

"  Vineyard,"  the.    See  Jamnia. 


Vossius,  friend  of  Manasseh  ben 
Israel,  245. 

"  Wars  of  the  Jews,  The,"  by 

Josephus,  34. 
the  language  of,  37. 
"  Wars   of   the   Lord,   The,"   by 

Gersonides,   141. 
"  Wars  of  the  Lord,  The,"   by 

Salman,    the    son    of    Yeru- 

cham,   78. 
Wessely,  N.  H.,  pedagogue,  210. 
"  Wolf    and    the    two    Hounds, 

The,"  fable,  65. 
"  Wolf  at  the  Well,  The,"   fa- 
ble, 65. 
"  Work    of    Tobiah,    The,"    by 

Tobiah  Cohen,  209. 
Worms,  Rashi  at,  122. 

Yad  Hachazaka.  See  "  Strong 
Hand,   The." 

Yalkut,  collected  Midrashim, 
58. 

Yedaiah  Bedaressi,  writer,  191- 
192. 

Yeshuoth  Meshicho,  by  Abar- 
banel, 229. 

Yoreh  Deah,  part  of  the  Shul- 
chan Aruch,   240. 

Yuchasin,  by  Abraham  Zacuto, 
216. 

Zabara,    satirist,    127. 

Zacut,    Moses,    dramatist,    246. 

Ze»5na       u-Reena,       homiletical 

work,  230. 
Zeira,  Amora,  46. 
Zemach,  the  son  of  Paltoi,  Gaon 

and  lexicographer,  70. 
Zemach  David,   by   David  Gans, 

220-221. 
Zeraim,    order   of   the    Mishnah, 

31. 
Zevaoth.    See  Ethical  Wills. 
Zicareo,     character     in     Samuel 

Usque's  poem,    218. 
Zion,   odes   to,    by   Jehuda   Ha- 
levi, 109,  129-130. 
Zohar,    the,    Kabbalistic    work, 

172-174. 
style  and  language  of,  172-173. 
contents   of,    173-174. 
Christian  ideas  in,  174. 
importance  of,  175. 


PUBLICATIONS 

OF   THE 

Jewish  Publication  Society  of  America. 


HISTORY. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS.—  By  Professor  E.  Graetz. 

$3.00  per  volume. 

Yoi,.  I.       From  the  Earliest  Period  to  the  Death 

of  Simon  the  Maccabee  (135  b.c.e.).  553  pp. 

Vol.  II.    From  the  Reign  of  Hyrcanus  to  the  Com 

PLETION  OF  THE  BABY  I.O.MAN  TALMUD   (500 

C.E.).    656  pp. 

Vol.  III.  From  the  Completion  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  to  the  Banishment  of  the  Jews 
from  England  (1290  c.e.).    675  pp. 

Vol.  IV.  From  the  Rise  of  the  Kabbala  (1270  c.e.)  to 
the  Permanent  Settlement  of  the  Mar- 
ranos  in  Holland  (1648  c.e.).    743  pp. 

Vol.  V.  From  the  Chmielnicki  Persecution  in  Po 
land  (1648  c.e.)  to  the  Present  Time.  766pp. 

Voi,.Vl.  Containing  a  Memoir  of  the  Authob  by 
Dr.  PhilippBloch,  an  Index  tothe  Five 
Volumes,  Maps,  and  a  Chronological 
Table  of  Jewish  History. 

"  Professor  Graetz  is  the  historiographer  par  excellence  of 
the  Jews.  His  work,  at  present  the  authority  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  Jewish  history,bids  fair  to  hold  its  pre-eminent  posit  inn 
for  some  time,  perhaps  decades." — Preface  to  Index  Volume. 

OUTLINES  OF  JEWISH  HISTORY.  From  the  lie- 
turn  from  Babylon  to  the  Present  Time. — By  Lady 
Magnus.  Revised  by  M.  Fried-lander.  With  three 
Maps,  a  Frontispiece,  and  Chronological  Tables.  388 
pp.     Library  Edition,  $1.00;  School  Edition,  75  cents. 

"The  entire  work  is  one  of  great  interest  :  it  is  written 
with  moderation,  and  yet  with  a  line  enthusiasm  lor  the 
great* race  which  is  set  before  the  reader's  mind."— Atlantic 
Monthly. 


JEWISH  LITERATURE  AND  OTHER  ESSAYS.— 
By  Gustav  Karpeles.     404  pp.     $1.25. 

"  The  essays  have  the  charm  of  an  attractive  style,  com- 
bined with  a  subject  of  great  and  varied  interest."— Inde- 
pendent. 

SABBATH  HOURS.    Thoughts.— By  Liebman  Adler. 

338  pp.     $1.25. 

"  Rabbi  Adler  was  a  man  of  strong  and  fertile  mind,  and 
his  sermons  are  eminently  readable.1'— Sunday-School  Times. 

SOME  JEWISH  WOMEN.— By  Henry  Zirndorf. 
270  pp.     $1.25. 

"  The  side-lights  which  this  book  casts  upon  rabbinic  life 
and  thought  will  attract  readers."— Critic. 

THE  TALMUD. — By  Arsene  Darmesteter.  Trans- 
lated from  the  French  by  Henrietta  Szold.  Boards. 
30  cents.     (Special  Series  No.  4.) 

"Few  persons  know  what  'The  Talmud'  signifies.    The 

booklet,  with  this  title, is  multum  in  parvo  on  this 

theme.  That  stupendous  library  of  rabbinic  lore  is  here  de- 
scribed with  a  fulness  and  a  clearness  not  surpassed  in  many 
larger  and  more  pretentious  works."— Dial. 

THE  TALMUD.— Reprinted  from  the  "Literary  Re- 
mains" of  Emanuel  Deutsch.  Boards.  30  cents. 
(Special  Series  No.  3.) 

"  When  first  published  ....  made  its  author,  then  one  of 
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READINGS  AND  RECITATIONS.  For  Jewish  Homes 
and  Schools. — Compiled  by  Isabel  E.  Cohen.  294  pp. 
$1.25. 

"This  book  should  be  found  in  every  Jewish  home;  it 
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could  intone  such  songs  and  inspire  such  bards  has  every 
claim  upon  the  intelligent  reverence  of  those  in  its  house- 
hold born."— Emil  G.  Hirsch,  Reform  Advocate. 


A   SKETCH  OF  JEWISH   HISTORY.— By   Gttbtav 

Karpeles.     109  pp.     Boards.     30  cents.     (Special 
Series  No.  5.) 

"Dr.  Karpeles's  standpoint  is  a  sane  one,  and  his  inii 
mate  acquaintance  with  the  details  of  his  subject  lias  In 
no  degree  confused  his  sketch  of  the  general  development." 
—Critic. 

JEWISH  LIFE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES— By  Israel 
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and  given  us  the  raeansof  getting  a  thorough  understanding 
of  it."— Book  man. 

OLD  EUROPEAN  JEWRIES.— By  David  Philipson. 
281  pp.     $1.25. 

"  Philipson's  hook  is  a  very  valuable  historical  and  ethno- 
graphical contribution."— Gustav  Karpeles,  Allgemeine 
Zeitung  des  Judenthums. 

THE  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  RUSSIA  — 
87  pp.     Paper.     25  cents.     (Special  Series  No.  1.) 

"The  pamphlet  is  full  of  facts,  and  will  inform  people 
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the  Jews  against  Russia."— Puhlic  Opinion. 


ESSAYS    AND     MISCELLANEOUS    WORKS 

JEWISH  SERVICES  IN  SYNAGOGUE  AND  HOM  E. 

—By  Lewis  N.  Dembitz.    487  pp.     $1.75. 

"  A  work  which  will  keep  up  the  knowledge  and  remem- 
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past,  and  of  the  liturgical  literature  as  it  evolved  through- 
out ages  and  in  various  countries."— Jewish  Spectator. 

STUDIES  IN  JUDAISM.— By  S.  Sciieciitkr.  359  pp. 
$1.75. 
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not  unworthy  of  the  greatest  scholar."— Em Hi  G.  HlRSOH, 
Reform  Advocate. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  FIRST  CONVENTION 
OF  THE  NATIONAL  COUNCIL  OF  JEWISH 
WOMEN  (New  York,  1896).     426  pp.     $1.00. 

"  Among-  the  many  speeches  recorded,  we  have  found  sev- 
eral of  much  more  than  ordinary  power."— Public  Opinion. 

PAPERS  OF  THE  JEWISH  WOMEN'S  CONGRESS 
(Chicago,  1893).     270  pp.     $1.00. 

"  This  collection  interprets  the  motive  force  which  actu- 
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and  it  is  certainly  to  the  credit  of  the  Jewish  women  of 
America  that  they  should  have  been  able  to  so  effectually 
voice  the  sentiments  aud  thoughts  that  pervade  their  sex." 
—Jewish  World,  London. 


FICTION 


LOST  PRINCE  ALMON— By  Louis  Pendleton.   Illus- 
trated.    218  pp.     75  cents. 

"  It  is  a  charmingly  written  story  of  the  little  Prince  Jehc- 
ash,  son  of  Ahaziah,  whom  the  Prince  Jehoiada  had  rescued 
from  the  clutches  of  Athaliah.  .  .  .  Our  Sunday  School  litera- 
ture is  so  extremely  poor  that  we  hail  this  volume  with  par- 
ticular delight,  and  we  predict  that  it  will  soon  be  one  of 
the  most  popular  gift  books  for  Jewish  children."— Jewish 
Voice. 

DREAMERS  OF  THE  GHETTO.— By  I.   Zangwill. 
537  pp.     $1.50.     Sold  to  Members  only. 

"  With  marvelous  industry,  and  with  no  small  amount  of 
erudition,  he  has  packed  together  into  the  scenes  dealing 
with  Uriel  Acosta,  Sabbatai  Zevi,  Spinoza,  the  Baal  Shem, 
Maimon,  Heine,  Lassalle  and  Beaconsfield,  just  those  inci- 
dents and  sayings  of  their  careers  which  bring  out  most 
clearly  their  Jewish  aspects."— Joseph  Jacobs,  Bookman. 

IN  THE  PALE.     Stories  and  Legends  of  the  Russia?i 
Jews. — By  Henry  Iliowizi.     367  pp.     $1.25. 

"  Henry  Iliowizi ....  is  a  master  of  both  humor  and  pa- 
thos, as  is  shown  in  his  book  of  stories  and  legends  entitled 
'  In  the  Pale.'  "Sunday-School  Times. 


CHILDREN   OF  THE  GHETTO.— By  I.  Zangwill. 

-vols.     451  pp.,  325  pp.     82.50. 

••  Nowhere  rise  have  been  given  us  more  realistic  pictures 
of  the  shabbiness,  the  unwholesomeness,  the  close  packed 
human  misery,  the  squalor,  the  vulgarity,  the  sharp  struggle 
in  the  mean  competition  of  life,  in  the  Easi  End  of  Lon 

don [But]   there  is  a  world  of  poetry,  of  dreams,  of 

imagination,  of  high  calling,  of  intellectual  subtlety  even, 
in  which  sordid  London,  not  Jewish,  has  no  part  nor  lot."— 
Charles  Dudley  Warner,  Harper's  Magazine. 

RABBI  AND  PRIEST.— By  Milton  Goldsmith.     314 

pp.     $1.00. 

"The  author  has  attempted  to  depict  faithfully  the  cus- 
toms and  practices  of  the  Russian  people  and  government 
in  connection  with  the  Jewish  population  of  that  country. 
The    book   is   a    strong    and   well-written  story."— Public 

Opinion. 

THINK  AND  THANK.— By  S.  W.  Cooper.  Illus- 
trated.    120  pp.     50  cents. 

"Sir    Moses  Montefiore   is   the   hero   of    this    story 

'Think  and  Thank'  will  please  boys,  and  it  will  be  found 
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VOEGELE'S  MARRIAGE  AND  OTHER  TALES.— 
By  Louis  Schnabel.  83  pp.  Paper.  25  cents. 
(Special  Series  No.  2.) 

'"The  False  Turn'  is  a  charming  little  sketch,  and  the 
humor  of  it  very  delicate  and  amusing.  'Voegele's  Mar- 
riage1 I  And  also  very  artistic  and  interesting."— Emma 
Lazarus. 

I'lilrfications  sent  from  the  Society'*  office  post  paid.    h'<>r  soli 
by  the  Trade. 

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